Despite efforts from the lighting industry to block new energy-saving standards in California, a federal court has cleared the way for the state's updated efficiency standards to take effect. The court's denial of a request from lighting industry stakeholders for a temporary restraining order allowed California to proceed with stopping the sale of "energy-wasting" incandescent bulbs designed to fill 260 million sockets in the state.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association and the American Lighting Association initially filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in an attempt to achieve a temporary restraining order against California's updated light-bulb efficiency standards. The two industry groups were hoping to reverse the decision to update minimum efficiency standards for light bulbs, which added candle- and flame-shaped bulbs used in chandeliers and sconces, reflector bulbs used in recessed cans and track lighting, round globe bulbs, and bulbs that can operate at three different light levels. The associations dropped their lawsuit shortly after the court refused to issue a temporary restraining order on the standards.
Under the new standards, LED and CFL bulbs will continue to be sold in California, but incandescent and halogen bulbs were removed from retail locations at the beginning of the year because they do not meet the minimum efficiency level of 45 lumens per watt. Advocates of the standard estimate the updated standards will save California residents $2.4 billion on annual utility bills and avoid up to 13,600 gigawatt-hours of annual electricity use.
