The Department of Energy this week announced it will hold a public hearing on proposed standards to improve the energy efficiency of fluorescent lighting in commercial and industrial applications. D.C. The proposed standards are based on an agreement, worked out between lamp ballast manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates in October 1999, that marks a major turning point in the process by which energy efficiency standards are set. The proposed standards were published in the Federal Register on March 15, 2000. Lighting accounts for about 20 percent of all electricity consumed in the United States, and as a nation, we spend billions on it each year. It is a victory for consumers, for the environment and for industry.
Residential ballasts are exempt from the proposed standards.
DOE has authority to set minimum efficiency standards for lamp ballasts as well as a variety of other residential and commercial appliances and equipment, and residential ballasts will be studied in the future as funding allows. Adoption of the efficiency standards is expected to save between 1.2 and 2.3 quadrillion BTUs of energy over a 30-year period. That's enough energy to supply 7 million to 15 million homes in the U.S. for one year. The agreement is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 11 million to 19 million metric tons and nitrous oxide emissions by 34,000 tons to 60,000 tons over a 20-year period. That's the same as eliminating the emissions of 9 to 15 million cars in a single year.