Print edition: 
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —In a widely watched ruling that could be followed by other states, California passed first-in-the-nation energy-efficiency standards for new television sets.
After two years of debate and fierce opposition from the Consumer Electronics Association, the five-member California Energy Commission unanimously voted Wednesday to require new TV sets sold in California to reduce electricity consumption 33 percent by 2011 and 49 percent by 2013.
Environmentalists and energy-efficiency experts applauded the move, noting that other states, as well as the federal government, are likely to follow California's lead.
"The newly adopted California TV standards will be the most advanced in the world," said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "If history repeats itself, we expect many policymakers around the world to establish similar standards in the not-too-distant future."
The Energy Commission says the new standards, which apply to new televisions with screens that are 58 inches and smaller, will save consumers money on their electricity bills and will help California conserve energy and avoid the need to build additional power plants.
"Efficiency in the energy business is job one in California," Commissioner James Boyd said shortly before the vote. "It is the cheapest, simplest way to serve this state and save our citizens money."
Though recent public hearings have drawn scores of lobbyists from the television manufacturing industry, Wednesday's vote was a relatively quiet affair. No one from the Consumer Electronics Association attended the hearing.
Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld, who is widely considered "the godfather" of energy-efficiency standards, spoke of the day as a "great fall day in California."
"We've come out with two tiers of standards, and by the time they kick in we'll save one whole power plant," Rosenfeld said. "It's a very good deal for society."
The new regulations are expected to drive technological advances as manufacturers race to meet the Golden State's new standards.
"If you care about energy efficiency, you can't help but look at TVs," said Andrew DeLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project. "Will the standards drive innovation? Absolutely. It's a huge business opportunity. There is a market for efficiency."
California has a long history of adopting efficiency standards for appliances including air conditioners, clothes dryers and refrigerators. The regulations have helped make the Golden State the most energy-efficient in the nation. But as consumers buy larger televisions and increasingly shift to flat-screen models — some plasma TVs use 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year — televisions account for a growing amount of electricity use in the average American home.
TVs, as well as DVD players and cable boxes, now consume about 10 percent of a typical home's electricity.
"We're at a transitional moment where a lot of people are buying new televisions to catch up with digital broadcasting," said Jennifer Amman, director of the Buildings Program at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. "Efficiency standards can help make sure that the consumer is able to buy a TV that offers the services they want with the least energy consumption."
The Massachusetts legislature is discussing a television efficiency bill that is largely based on California's new standards; Washington and Oregon are expected to take up the issue as well.
There's also growing interest by the federal government, and the Federal Trade Commission is also looking at enacting some kind of labeling system that would give consumers a sense of how much energy various models of TVs cost to operate.
