Legislation + Regulation

The Wall Street Journal has published a new opinion editorial by legendary lighting designer Howard Brandston taking aim at mandates to use compact fluorescent lamps in the home, and also pending legislation that would make energy codes much stricter than today. I’m proud to call Howard a client. I was pleased to work with him [...]

As of July 1, ballast manufacturers can no longer make ballasts for use with 34W T12 lamps in new fixtures that do not pass energy efficiency standards created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The same rule applied to ballasts for operation of full-wattage T12 lamps starting April 1, 2005. Check out all of [...]

The stimulus plan appears to be having little influence on construction companies’ ability to expand payrolls to date, according to a new industry analysis of the impact of the federal program’s construction spending released by the Associated General Contractors of America. The disappointingly slow pace of construction spending outside of the transportation sector is one [...]

According to an analysis released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans across the country will save on their monthly electricity bill under the American Clean Energy Leadership Act. NRDC experts say most consumers will save money under the legislation’s energy-efficiency and consumer protection provisions. The following is a statement by Dan Lashof, director [...]

Yesterday, President Barack Obama and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced aggressive actions to promote energy efficiency and save American consumers billions of dollars per year. Included were major changes to energy conservation standards for numerous household and commercial lamps and lighting equipment. These are the same rules proposed by the Department of Energy and [...]

Excerpted from IALD Reflections, the newsletter of the IALD: Thank you, all of you, who took the time to weigh in on this issue. Your efforts, and those of our colleagues in the entertainment lighting industry, and members of the ALA, ESTA, IES and many other organizations, have paid off. I am pleased that we [...]

I got an email this morning explaining why Senator Averitt added the language to the bill. Apparently, residential builders and owners in the Senator’s district had complained about people representing themselves as lighting designers, selling bad equipment that did not perform, and producing a loss for the builders. Apparently, the Senator had no idea that [...]

Good news! It’s confirmed: The “lighting designer” language in Texas House Bill 2649 will be withdrawn and replaced with language requesting a study by the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation of the feasibility of licensing in the industry, according to Texas State Senator Kip Averitt’s office. IALD President Jeff Miller said the combined grassroots [...]

Your voice has been heard. There have been hundreds of phone calls, letters and emails over the past 48 hours about this potentially disastrous bill. Now here’s an update for Thursday, May 28. The latest word via discussions on LinkedIn and emails I’ve received is: * Senator Averitt’s office has indicated that he will be [...]