NY and CT take dim view of Energy Department rollback on lightbulb standards

New York and Connecticut are part of a multistate coalition suing the U.S. Department of Energy to block its final rule rolling back Obama-era energy efficiency standards on certain lightbulbs.

The rollback impacts a 2017 rule that expanded the definition of general service lamps to include seven previously unregulated types of lightbulbs, which made them subject to a congressionally-imposed minimum standard of 45 lumens per watt effective Jan. 1, 2020. The lawsuit claimed the rollback violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which would result in consumers absorbing annual losses of $12 billion per year in electricity savings by 2025, or $100 per household per year.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra are leading the coalition of 16 attorneys general, including Connecticut”™s William Tong, and the city of New York in the lawsuit.

“The Trump administration”™s not-so-bright idea to roll back lightbulb energy efficiency standards is an obvious attempt to line the pockets of energy executives while simultaneously increasing pollution and raising energy bills for consumers,” James said. “The United States cannot and will not be the exception to the international movement to phase out the inefficient, unnecessary, and costly use of incandescent bulbs. My office will continue to work with our partner states and municipalities to reverse this action, save New Yorkers money on electricity bills, and cut climate change emissions by reducing the coal and gas burned in power plants.”