ANDY BARR 

S\XTH 0\STR\Cl. KENTUCKY 

COMMiTTEE ON FiNANCIAL SERVICES 

5t;[JCQMM!T'TEC ON f'INI>NCIAL IHSTITUTIONS 

A~~O CONSUMER CRE.Ol....-

SueCOMM!OT'EC: ON OvERSlO~iT 

J>NO ]r.J'J~STIGA110NS 

The Honorable Steven Chu 

Secretary of Energy 

U.S. Department of Energy 

1000 Independence Ave. SW 

Washington, D.C. 20585 

Dear Secretary Chu, 

UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

March 21, 2013 

1.132 LONG-NORTH HoUSE OFFICE Bult .. D!NG 

WASHJ:~GTON DC 20515 

(202l 225-4 706 

2709 OLD Ros£euo Ro.au. Slm E 100 U:;..nNGTON l<Y 405-09 

rB59l 2 19-1 366 

I write to you today on behalf of my constituents in Winchester, Kentucky with Osram Sylvania, 

a manufacturer of reflector lamps for retail store accent lighting and recessed lighting. 

As you know, the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of2007 established further 

energy conservation standards, or lower wattage requirements, for general service incandescent 

lamps. In July of2009, the Department of Energy (DOE) broadened these standards to include 

commercial general-service fluorescent lamps and incandescent (and halogen) reflector 

lamps. The new rules took effect on July 14, 2012. In the case of fluorescent lamps, equivalentperformance products were readily available and met the new standards. However, in the case of 

incandescent reflector lamps, only a few equivalent-performance products were readily available 

that would comply, making compliance with the new regulations costly for manufacturers of 

these bulbs. 

The EISA of2007, states that the DOE must initiate another cycle ofrulemaking in 2014 to 

consider a broader standard for "general service lamps/' which includes compact fluorescent 

lamps (CFLs), general service light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, organic LED (OLEO) lamps, 

and any other lamps determined to satisfy lighting applications traditionally served by general 

service incandescent lamps. To this effect, my office has been notified that the DOE and the 

Navigant consulting company have already begun the process of drafting new regulations to 

place further regulations on this category of lighting products. 

The Winchester, Kentucky Osram Sylvania facility recently underwent a major retooling to bring 

the facility into compliance with the 2007 requirements for incandescent reflector 

lamps. Bringing the facility into compliance with even more stringent regulations would require 

an increased capital outlay that is not readily available to the company. Consequently, further 

regulations would jeopardize the viability of the facility in the United States, and would most 

likely lead to a reduction of American manufacturing jobs. 
The new 2007 requirements, which came into effect in July of2012, raised consumer prices on 

these products from approximately $4.50 to $8.00. Additional regulations would likely further 

increase the price to $1 0- $12, while the return on investment based on energy savings is 8 to I 0 

years. In this economic climate, imposing additional regulations on these businesses would be 

bad public policy. 

Osram Sylvania has been proudly manufacturing lighting products for 60 years, and it would be 

a shame to regulate this plant to the point where it can no longer operate or would have to move 

its operations out of the country. I urge the DOE to consider the aforementioned consequences 

when considering further regulations on standard halogen reflector lamps. 

If you have any questions, please contact my Senior Legislative Assistant, Tate Bennett, at (202) 

225-4706, or email her at Tate.Bennett@mail.house.gov. Thank you for your consideration.