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ROSSLYN, Va., —The National Electrical Manufacturers Association’s (NEMA’s) Government Relations Vice President  Kyle Pitsor testified today  on  the Energy Efficient Lighting for A Brighter Tomorrow Act of 2007 (S. 2017) before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The bill was introduced Sept. 4 by Sen. Jeff Binagman (D-N.M.) and cosponsored by Senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and Mary Landrieu (D-La.). The legislation sets technology-neutral, performance based efficiency standards for general-service incandescent light bulbs. 

Between Jan. 1, 2012 and Jan. 1, 2014, today’s 100-, 75-, 60- and 40-watt general-service light bulbs would be phased out and replaced with new bulbs that produce the same light output but use less energy. NEMA estimates that U.S. consumers will save more than 50 percent of the energy now used annually if the bill’s standards become law.  

Earlier this year, NEMA announced a joint industry commitment to advance public policies that would transform the U.S. market to more energy-efficient lighting within a decade. Noting the significance of electrical lighting in the U.S. economy, NEMA called for a federal solution in order to maximize the energy savings from such a transformation and to avoid a patchwork of conflicting, unworkable state regulations. NEMA member manufacturers propose to replace today’s least-efficient light bulbs with a combination of products that will provide consumers with product choices to meet their lighting needs. 

While largely supporting the bill, Pitsor expressed concerns about two of the bill’s provisions. Citing the complexity and scope of both meeting manufacturing demands and educating the public about the new light bulbs, Pitsor urged the Committee to extend the implementation end-date by one year, to Jan. 1, 2015.

“A three-year transition period would be eminently reasonable for the interpretation of such new (and likely strong) market forces, which necessitate manufacturing responses of a magnitude not previously seen in this industry,” Pitsor said. “Timing and learning are crucial factors for an orderly and cost-effective transition to a new array of products that are taken for granted in today’s vast consumer market.”

While supporting the energy-efficiency standards components of the bill, NEMA strongly opposes determining in 2007 what the level of standards should be in 2020. “The use of a 45 lumens-per-watt (LPW) minimum standard in 2020 would have the effect of mandating only compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), as well as outlawing the new high-efficiency halogen and new high-efficiency incandescent products that the industry will be introducing only five to eight years earlier,”  Pitsor advised the Committee. “The LPW approach may have the adverse effect of driving consumers to buying higher-wattage light bulbs, which would result in more – not less — electrical consumption. This is the wrong direction.”

In closing, Pitsor noted,  “Estimates I have seen suggest that this bill, by itself, is the single largest source of energy savings from any appliance efficiency standard to date and that the energy savings are nearly as large as the combined savings from ALL federal appliance standards adopted from 1987 through 2000, or about 88 billion kilowatt-hours per year.”

NEMA is the trade association of choice for the electrical manufacturing industry. Founded in 1926 and headquartered near Washington, D.C., its approximately 450 member companies manufacture products used in the generation, transmission and distribution, control, and end-use of electricity. These products are used in utility, medical imaging, industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential applications. Domestic production of electrical products sold worldwide exceeds $120 billion. In addition to its headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia, NEMA also has offices in Beijing, São Paulo, and Mexico City.

Press/Public Relations Contacts:
NEMA Communications Department
Email: communications@nema.org
Phone: (703) 841-3222
Fax: (703) 841-3322