Good-bye Incandescents, Hello LEDs

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday issued new energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs that will effectively phase out incandescent bulbs in the country by July 2023.

The new standards require “general service” light bulbs — those used in most residential lamps and lighting — to produce 45 lumens/W. Lumens are a measure of brightness; LED bulbs can easily meet the new standards, which will go into effect 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register; incandescent bulbs will not.

In practical terms, the new standards mean light bulb manufacturers in the U.S. will have to stop making incandescent bulbs in January 2023, and U.S. retailers will have to stop selling them by July 2023.

According to DOE estimates, the new standard could save American consumers and businesses up to $3 billion per year on utility bills while cutting carbon emissions by 222 MMT over the next 30 years.

The light bulb standard, originally set in 2017, was put on hold in 2019 by former President Donald Trump. It is one of 57 “delayed” energy efficiency standards that DOE inherited from the previous administration, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy during a Thursday hearing on the department’s 2023 budget request.

“Our goal this year is to get totally caught up from that and issue about 100 orders to make sure that we can keep appliances efficient for American citizens so that they don’t have to pay the money that they would have to pay if they were using inefficient technology,” Granholm said. “We’re very proud of the actions that we are taking; we’re going to be very aggressive about trying to reduce costs for people.”

“This is a victory for consumers and for the climate, one that’s been a long time coming,” said Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “LEDs have become so inexpensive that there’s no good reason for manufacturers to keep selling 19th-century technology that just isn’t very good at turning electrical energy into light. These standards will finally phase out energy-wasting bulbs across the country.”

$2.3B for Grid Improvements

Continuing its rollout of funding opportunities from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, DOE on Wednesday released a request for information (RFI) for a $2.3 billion grant program aimed at helping states and tribes to update and improve the resilience of their transmission and distribution systems.

The program will provide “formula grants” to each of the 50 states, five territories, 547 Native American tribes and communities, and D.C., according to the projected grant allocations issued by the department. The grants are not competitive, but states and tribes will have to apply for them.

The five-year program will provide a total of $459 million per year. Grant amounts for the states range from $33.8 million for California to $1.7 million for Rhode Island.

According to a Notice of Intent, also released by DOE, that money could go to T&D owners, operators and providers, as well as generation owners and fuel suppliers for a broad range of resilience-related projects, such as:

• utility pole upkeep and removal of trees and other vegetation affecting grid performance;
• undergrounding electrical equipment, and relocating or reconductoring lines;
• improvements to make the grid resistant to extreme weather and fires;
• implementing monitoring, controls and advanced modeling for real-time situational awareness; and
• integrating distributed energy resources like microgrids and energy storage.

The RFI seeks feedback from prospective program applicants and other stakeholders about how the grants and application process should be structured. “Specific feedback is requested about anticipated application challenges, technical assistance support and other critical data sources,” the DOE announcement said.

The deadline for comments is May 27.

Environmental Justice in Lithium Valley

During a recent tour of Southern California energy and cleantech sites, Granholm became the first U.S. cabinet secretary to make an official visit to Imperial County and the Salton Sea region now widely known as Lithium Valley, according to a report in The Desert Sun.

Accompanied by Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Granholm attended two community “listening sessions,” where local officials and residents voiced concerns about the potential health and environmental impacts of proposed lithium extraction projects in and around the Salton Sea. While Imperial County may be sitting on an estimated 15 MMT of lithium — a critical mineral used in batteries — local communities have suffered from the environmental and health impacts of the drying up of the sea. The exposure of the seabed could increase already-high levels of air pollution in the region.

“We know about the opportunities coming with lithium, but we have a lot of concern, especially for the public health of our kids,” local resident Elizabeth Jaime said in Spanish through a translator, as reported in The Desert Sun. “What assurance do we have as parents that this industry won’t generate more pollution?”

Recent research found that Imperial County’s rate of emergency room visits for pediatric asthma were double the statewide average.

With federal funding opportunities for battery storage coming soon, Granholm said that “anybody who is getting funding from the federal government [will have to] consult with the local community to make sure that your voices are heard.”

The day before Granholm’s visit, plans for the construction of a 54-GWh electric vehicle battery factory were announced by Controlled Thermal Resources and Italvolt. (See 54 GWh EV Battery Plant Proposed for Lithium Valley.)