California Legislation Will Save Energy, Money, and the Environment

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In the Democratic weekly radio address Assembly members Jared Huffman and Tony Mendoza talk about legislation that will reduce energy use, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and save consumers and businesses money. Assembly Bill 1109, which will result in much more energy efficient lighting, could save consumers and businesses $3-billion annually. Assembly Bill 1470, which will jump start the solar hot water heating industry, could reduce natural gas demand by 5%. Both measures were authored by Assembly member Huffman.

You may listen in English or in Spanish.

Hello, I’m Assembly member Jared Huffman, I chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.

You’ve probably heard in the press that some states and countries have considered bans on incandescent light bulbs.

With climate change and energy crises looming, and with 22% of our electrical use going to lighting, it’s certainly understandable.

The Assembly, however, recently passed legislation that I authored, AB 1109, that I believe reflects a smarter approach – one that will achieve huge energy savings and huge savings for consumers by setting technology-neutral performance standards, and then letting the different lighting technologies battle it out in the market.

AB 1109 calls on the California Energy Commission to set performance standards designed to improve the efficiency of indoor general purpose lighting by 50% over the next 10 years, with significant improvement goals for commercial and outdoor lighting, as well.

This will save consumers and businesses more than $3 billion each year on their electric bills, and it will offset the need for five 1,000 MW power plants.