The Biden administration released a proposed rule on Monday aimed at requiring consumers to buy LED light bulbs, a move it estimated could force $400 million in compliance costs on manufacturers.
The proposed rule would more than double energy efficiency standards for light bulbs from 45 lumens per watt to 120 lumens per watt, and said the explicit goal is to move people to LED bulbs.
“Earlier this year, DOE implemented a near-term phaseout of inefficient incandescent bulbs,” the White House said Monday. “Today’s new rule will accelerate the transition away from compact fluorescent bulbs as well, toward more efficient and long-lasting LED bulbs that deliver significant savings and that the lighting industry is already embracing.”
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The White House estimated that the more stringent energy-use standard would eventually save the average family “at least $100 annually through lower energy bills,” and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the rule will also come at a cost to manufacturers.
“In order to bring products into compliance with new and amended standards, it is estimated that the industry would incur total conversion costs of $407 million,” the draft rule said.
The White House said the rule is one of dozens released under the Biden administration aimed at turning the U.S. into a “net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.”
“Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of more than 110 energy efficiency actions taken by the Administration to help lower energy costs and keep money in the pockets of American families while reducing our nation’s carbon footprint,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
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Democrats have fought for years to boost the energy efficiency standards of light bulbs, but those efforts have often been met with Republican resistance. The Trump administration delayed light bulb standards implemented during the Obama administration that sought to phase out traditional incandescent bulbs.
In the early years of the Obama administration, the issue of rising light bulb standards became a hot-button issue in the fight over federal funding, and Republicans won a delay of standards aimed at getting rid of traditional bulbs.
