Washington State bans fluorescents in 2029, impacts on LED rebates

Compact and linear fluorescents are on their way out of Washington state...eventually. The Washington state legislature has passed a ban on these products starting on January 1, 2029.  The bill(HB 1185 - 2023-24) still requires the governor's signature, which is expected. 

Beginning January 1, 2029 "a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer may not knowingly sell a compact fluorescent lamp or linear fluorescent lamp". However, "In-state distributors, wholesalers, and retailers in possession of compact fluorescent lamps or linear fluorescent lamps on January 1, 2029, may exhaust their existing stock through sales to the public until July 1, 2029."

As we covered in our in webinar, there is a small but growing number of states that are banning fluorescent products due to their mercury content. These actions should have a beneficial environment effect, both in terms of reducing the amount of toxic mercury in landfills as well as the replacement of these lighting products with more efficient LED lamps and fixtures.

Impacts on lighting utility incentives

Given the approximately 5 year time horizon for this to take effect, there may not be much of an impact on Washington utility rebate programs.  As LED lighting continues to spread in residential and commercial applications, the amount of fixtures in Washington containing these fluorescents products will continue to dwindle over the five years, especially given the effectiveness of the existing utility rebate programs. 

The major impacts on the utility lighting rebates will be that this ban effectively resets the baseline for measuring lighting energy savings.  Without availability of fluorescent products, LED becomes the only alternative for many indoor applications so, like we've seen in Vermont, rebates for indoor products like troffers and high bays will not be cost effective for utility programs and would come to an end. Rebates for outdoor products and certain indoor applications would be unaffected by this change. 

Gazing into the crystal ball on this topic is not always useful, but there are few interesting potential topics for 2029.

1. Given the six month delay between the beginning of the ban and the inventory sales period, will there be a bump in fluorescent orders at the end of 2028 from distributor and retailers to support any final sales promotions.

2. The Bonneville Power Authority(BPA).  The BPA supplies power to many utilities in the Pacific Northwest and sets standards for an energy efficiency rebate program. Participating utilities offer incentives in ID, MT, OR, WA, and WY based on the BPA program.  Given that the fluorescent ban is only in a portion of the BPA territory, it is not known how the BPA will handle their overall program design.  Oregon will give us a preview of this given that they are banning linear fluorescents in 2025.  Keep an eye out for this change.

From an environmental perspective, this move by Washington state is a good thing. The extended time frame will allow LED lighting incentives to continue to motivate building owners to adopt LED at a rate and timing that they can plan for.