Legislation + Regulation

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established energy standards for 40-100W general-service incandescent lamps, which took effect 2012-2014 and contributed to a significant decline in incandescent A-lamp sales in recent years. U.S. manufacturers have complied despite Congressional appropriations bills specifically prohibiting the Department of Energy from enforcing the Act’s provisions (which only served [...]

California has adopted new regulations for small-diameter directional lamps (often used in track lighting) and general-purpose LED lamps. The new regulations establish a baseline for performance quality while promoting energy efficiency. Compliant lamps are already available. California predicts consumers will reduces operating costs by $4 billion over the first 13 years after implementation, saving enough [...]

On December 2, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a decision that mandatory energy conservation standards for high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps are not technically feasible or economically justified. Furthermore, the DOE determined that higher energy conservation standards for HID lamps would not yield significant energy savings for the nation. Click here to read the [...]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has published a Federal Register final rule pertaining to energy conservation standards for ceiling fan light kits. The effective date of this rule is March 7, 2016. Compliance with the amended standards is required on and after January 7, 2019. The amended energy standards are: DOE estimates average life-cycle cost [...]

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (“PATH” or “Act”), which was signed into law by President Obama on December 18, 2015, featured a number of tax provisions, including an extension of the Commercial Energy-Efficient Buildings Tax Deduction (Section 179D) by two years from December 31, 2014 to December 31, 2016. The text [...]

On April 30, 2015, President Obama signed S. 535, the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015, which specifies various Federal actions to increase energy and water efficiency in commercial buildings and adjusts a Department of Energy efficiency standard for grid-enabled residential water heaters. Of particular interest are two provisions that: * promote commercial building energy-use [...]

LightNOW recently reported that the Department of Energy (DOE) issued new energy standards for general-service fluorescent lamps. As promised, I’m following up to provide some analysis. The new rules were published in the Federal Register January 25 and go into effect January 26, 2018. They specifically cover 4-ft. T8 linear, 2-ft. T8 U-bend and 4-ft. [...]

On the last day of 2014, the Department of Energy (DOE) completed new standards for general-service fluorescent lamps. You can see the complete regulations here. After a first read-through, the regulations appear to strengthen existing lamp standards with a majority of covered lamp types. I’m currently working on a detailed write-up of the new standards, [...]

On December 19, President Obama signed the Tax Increase Prevention Act, which contains extenders of 50+ tax relief provisions. Of particular interest in the lighting industry is a one-year extension of 179D, the Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction. This is an accelerated tax deduction rewarding investment in energy-efficient building property, notably interior lighting systems. The law [...]