California Regs Would Cut Energy, Study Says

November 20, 2009 By Stephen Silver

multipage

If the energy regulations for televisions recently passed by the California Energy Commission were expanded worldwide, they would succeed in cutting power consumption of LCD TVs in half by 2013, according to a study released Friday by research firm iSuppli Corp.

The regulations, which are strongly opposed by CEA and other groups throughout the CE industry, will go into effect in 2011.

"If all of the 200 million LCD TVs set to be shipped in 2013 complied with the CEC standard, they would use a total of 64.4 billion kilowatt hours for the year, compared to 126.8 billion if they didn't," iSuppli said as part of the release of the study. "This represents a 50 percent decline in power consumption. With indications that other states may follow California’s lead, and with the United States the world’s largest LCD-TVs market, it’s conceivable that CEC-style regulations could spread throughout the country and the world.

The group added that while the regulations will likely reduce tax revenue in California and lead to the phasing out of large-scale plasma TVs, negative effects of the regulations' passage will "are likely to be limited."

Click here for the full study.