BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 722
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          Date of Hearing:   May 31, 2007

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mark Leno, Chair

                     AB 722 (Levine) - As Amended:  May 30, 2007 

          Policy Committee:                              UtilitiesVote:9-3

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill, commencing July 1, 2010, phases in minimum energy  
          efficiency requirements for general purpose incandescent light  
          bulbs over a six-year period.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          The state may incur higher initial costs to purchase either  
          compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs or more efficient, and  
          potentially more expensive, incandescent bulbs. (According to  
          the Department of General Services (DGS), over a recent two-year  
          period, the state purchased about $100,000 worth of incandescent  
          bulbs-about 200,000 bulbs assuming 50 cents per bulb.) These  
          higher purchase costs would probably be more than offset by  
          energy savings from the more efficient bulbs.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, the purpose of this bill is  
            to significantly increase the efficiency of indoor and outdoor  
            lighting systems-thus saving energy costs and emissions of  
            green-house gases. The bill phases in efficiency standards for  
            general purpose light bulbs, based on light output, with the  
            standards first applying in 2010 to general purpose bulbs  
            equivalent to current 100-watt incandescent bulbs. The  
            phase-in would gradually include general purpose light bulbs  
            with lower light output (the equivalent of a 75- watt  
            incandescent bulb in 2011, a 60-watt bulb in 2012, and a  
            40-watt bulb in 2016). According to the author, these  
            standards would increase the efficiency of general purpose  
            lighting by more than 65% compared to current incandescent  
            bulbs. Current CFL bulbs are over 70% more efficient than  








                                                                  AB 722
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            incandescent bulbs.

           2)Background  . Almost 2% of all energy consumption in the state  
            comes from incandescent bulbs. Approximately 95% of the power  
            consumed by an incandescent light bulb is emitted as heat,  
            rather than as visible light, meaning that 95% of the  
            electricity used when a light bulb is turned on is wasted.  
            Light output is measured in lumens. A typical 60 watt  
            incandescent light bulb will create 850 lumens, or close to 14  
            lumens per watt. A typical CFL bulb creates 950 lumens and  
            uses only 15 watts of electricity, or 63 lumens per watt--a  
            fourfold increase in efficiency.

           3)Cost Comparison  . The cost of an incandescent light bulb is  
            about $0.50, and CFL bulbs are generally under $3.00 per bulb.  
            However, the CFL lasts up to 10 times longer than a  
            traditional incandescent light bulb-10,000 hours versus 1,000  
            hours. Based on an average California energy cost of $0.105  
            per kilowatt hour, the total energy cost of a incandescent  
            light vs. a CFL over the life of a CFL is $78.75 vs. $21.00-an  
            energy savings of $57.75 with the CFL. Combined with the  
            difference in purchase price, taking into account expected  
            life-$3 for a CFL versus $5 for ten incandescent lights-and  
            the total savings per bulb is $59.75.

            Additionally, many power companies have begun providing CFL  
            bulbs to their customers free or at reduced costs. Currently  
            all three of the large investor owned utilities and many of  
            the publicly owned utilities have programs to help reduce the  
            costs of CFLs. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081