Attorney General Becerra Criticizes Trump Administration Announcement of Rule Ending Cost-Saving Energy Standards for Lightbulbs

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued the following statement on the announcement by the Department of Energy (DOE) of its final rule to roll back energy efficiency requirements for certain lightbulbs:

“With all that’s at stake in the world, the Trump Administration has chosen to declare war on energy-efficient light bulbs,” said Attorney General Becerra. “This is but another dim-witted move that will waste energy at the expense of our people and planet. We are prepared to challenge this latest Trump backsliding which seemingly has no bottom.”

On May 3, 2019, Attorney General Becerra issued a comment letter on DOE’s proposal, which would cost consumers $12 billion each year in lost electricity savings by 2025, or $100 per household per year. The letter asserted that, by reversing the 2017 Lamp Rules, DOE would enact a less stringent standard in violation of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and that the action was arbitrary and capricious and therefore unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act.