By Gretchen Millich, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-955309.mp3
East Lansing, MI – Some sweeping changes are coming up that will affect how we light our homes and businesses. New federal energy efficiency standards for light bulbs will be phased in starting next year. By 2014, the new rules will essentially outlaw the manufacture and sale of standard incandescent light bulbs. The regulations don't sit well with some people, who want a repeal of what they call a ban on consumer choice.
AUDIO:
The new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs were included in legislation passed by Congress in 2007 and signed into law by President George W. Bush.
Chad Bulman with the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance says it surprised a lot of people in the environmental community. "For the first time in recent memory at the federal level, consumers are being told that energy efficiency is the way to go as far as lighting goes," says Bulman.
There will be three phases, starting in 2012, when the 100 watt incandescent lamp will no longer be a legal product to produce or sell in the U.S. In 2013, the 75 watt incandescent will be outlawed and in 2014, the 60 watt incandescent will disappear.
Surveys show that only about one-fourth of Americans know about these changes, and many of them are opposed.
"Everybody uses light bulbs," says Henry Payne. He's the editor of the Michigan View, an online commentary site produced by the Detroit News.
"It's such a common household appliance that I think this is a case where Washington has gone too far. I think it's a pretty outrageous imposition on consumer choice. I drive a sports car. I guess that's relatively fuel inefficient compared to other cars. By the light bulb standard, the government would eliminate sports cars."
Legislation has been introduced in Congress to repeal the light bulb provisions, and an online petition drive called "FreeOurLight.org" is collecting signatures to support the repeal.
Payne says he uses both kinds of bulbs in his home and says he likes saving money on electricity. But he cites some of the common complaints about compact fluorescent bulbs or CFL's: that they can take a long time to warm up; sometimes flicker; are hard to read by and give off a cooler light than standard bulbs. Also, there's the issue of mercury in CFL's.
But environmentalists who are backing the change predict the new regulations will encourage companies to develop better light bulbs. Chad Bulman says that's already happening.
"You know there are a lot of different technologies coming out now," says Bulman. "Not only CFLS's, but a lot of halogen lamps that are coming to the market, which are more energy efficient than incandescents but that perform in the same way. And then looking a bit ahead to the future, for residential consumers there are going to be some LED lighting products out there that are going to be massively more energy efficient than incandescents and have lifetimes that are just kind of redefining the lifetime of lighting products in the home."
Lighting manufacturers have invested in developing new technology. The three largest, General Electric, Sylvania, and Phillips Electronics are touting a new energy efficient incandescent bulb. They're already selling them in California, where the new energy standards went into effect this year.
"They are at least 25 percent more efficient than the old incandescent light bulb and provide the same kind of warm white light and are fully dimmable and have no mercury, unlike compact fluorescent light bulbs," says Phillips Electronics' Randy Moorhead.
Moorhead says he's been visiting members of Congress to promote the new bulb and encourage them to support the plan to phase out the old incandescent lights.
But as opposition ramps up, Michigan Congressman Fred Upton has agreed to hold hearing on repealing the plan. Upton is chair of the House Energy and Commerce committee and sponsored the original legislation that set the new lighting standards.