Created: 11/19/2009 5:46:22 PM 
CALIFORNIA -- California on Wednesday became the first state to pass energy-efficiency standards for new TV sets, putting manufacturers on notice and positioning itself to start a national trend.
The effort to cut TV energy use by 33 percent beginning in 2011, and 50 percent in 2013, could save state consumers as much as $1 billion a year, the California Energy Commission said as it unanimously approved the limits.
"This is a consumer-protection measure. This is a measure that will protect the environment, and the benefits to Californians will be felt almost immediately," agency Chair Karen Douglas said, according to Reuters.
TVs account for about 10 percent of the energy use in the average home. That could grow as consumers buy new digital models with large plasma or LCD screens. They use more power than analog sets with cathode ray tubes.
About 25 percent of the sets now being sold would violate the standards set to take effect in 2011.
Regulators responded to protests from retailers by exempting sets with screens that measure 58 inches or larger diagonally. They represent less than 2 percent of all sales, the commission says.
California accounts for about 4 million of the 35.4 million TVs that the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) says have been shipped for sale this year.
The commission passed the new rules as the state tries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2020. But the consumer electronics industry says the rules could do more harm than good and reserved the right to challenge them at the state's Office of Administrative Law or in court.
"The big winner today is (Pacific Gas & Electric)," CEA Senior Vice President Jason Oxman says. "They have financial incentives to meet energy-reduction requirements imposed by California. They can meet those requirements by seeking and successfully imposing regulations on parties other than themselves."
The trade group says the rules may drive up the price of sets used by hotels and high-performance models used by TV professionals. There's also a chance that manufacturers will move sets that don't comply to other states, or cut prices to sell them before the rules take effect.
"That could raise consumer confusion without reaching the energy-saving goals that California and every other state would like to see," says Richard Doherty, director of The Envisioneering Group, a research and consulting firm.
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