Lighting Industry Sues to Block California’s Jan. 1 Expanded Lamp Efficiency Standards; Court Refuses Restraining Order

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association and the American Lighting Association are suing California to block the state’s updated lamp efficiency standards from going into effect on January 1, 2020. Today, a federal court denied a temporary restraining order.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, seeks to reverse the California Energy Commission’s Nov. 13 decision to update its minimum efficiency standards for lamps, which added such common household types as the candle- and flame-shaped lamps used in chandeliers and sconces, reflector lamps used in recessed cans and track lighting, round globe lamps, and three-way lamps.

The lamp types covered under the commission’s expanded standards are the same ones that the U.S. Department of Energy previously eliminated from being covered by national lighting efficiency standards.  They fill an estimated 260 million lighting sockets in California. The new minimum efficacy level is 45 lumens/W.

The new standards are also in addition to state standards that went into effect in 2018 for general-service lamps used in table and floor lamps, and small diameter reflector bulbs for track and recessed lighting.

Craig DiLouie

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