Top Five Policy Implications of Residential Lighting Strategy Report

Residential lighting has been one of the longest standing measures in efficiency program portfolios. With such a long history, you may be surprised to hear that it’s a rapidly-evolving space with significant advancements, especially in the past several years.

NEEP has been monitoring the efficiency opportunities in residential lighting through our Residential Lighting Initiative and our Northeast Residential Lighting Strategy (RLS) report. The changes in the residential lighting space have been so significant, NEEP has just published the forth iteration of the RLS in as many years with the 2014-2015 RLS Update.

The RLS has some key messages and implications for policymakers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, especially regarding what is feasible for efficiency program performance and what strategies efficiency programs should be employing. So, without any further ado, NEEP presents the top five policy implications and next step actions from the recent RLS:

The Residential Lighting Market is NOT transformed. The RLS presents evidence of continued high penetration of both incandescents and halogens.

• Policymakers should: Support continued and aggressive residential lighting programs for the next several years.

Cost-effective savings from efficient lighting promotion exists for several years to come. Significant drops in LED pricing means the cost to achieve savings is decreasing as well.

• Policymakers should:  Allow programs flexibility to adjust incentive levels as necessary to maintain relevance in the market.

The product mix in portfolios for efficiency programs should shift considerably in the next few years. Policymakers and program administrators should:

• Support strong promotion of LED technology in near-term.
• Develop transition strategies away from standard CFLs to LEDs to be implemented as soon as 2016.
• Consider moving away from specialty CFLs as LED technology is better suited for the specialty applications and the prices of specialty LEDs continue to fall.

National and regional efforts are taking shape to make a difference for efficiency of residential lighting.

• Policymakers should: Get involved! From new specifications to national discussions, federal standards, and regional initiatives — there is a flurry of activity around      efficient residential lighting.

NEEP is facilitating opportunities to learn more. Policymakers should:

• View the recorded webinar (from 12/18).
• Read the report here!
• Get involved with the initiative: contact Claire Miziolek, NEEP’s Market Strategies Program Manager.