DeGette LED Energy Bill Passes Senate, About to Become Law
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), author of a bill promoting energy conservation and encouraging innovations in LED lighting that passes the House in January, hailed last night's Senate passage of the bill and anticipated that it would be signed into law soon.
"The holiday season will be all the brighter thanks to our bipartisan efforts to speed the nation's progress in the use of energy-efficient lighting," DeGette said. "Our country's conservation standards must remain up to date with the latest developments in high-tech lighting and energy-efficient appliances. This bill will remove roadblocks to progress in LED development and help lower energy costs for American businesses and households."
DeGette's legislation, the EPS Improvement Act (H.R. 518), clarifies and modernizes energy conservation rules that were established after the Energy Policy Act of 2005. When the law was written, Light Emitting Diodes (LED) and Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) were not on the market; they later came to be classified by the Department of Energy as External Power Supplies. But EPS drivers use a different kind of power conversion design than LEDs and OLEDs, so the standards written for EPS drivers do not work for LEDs and OLEDs. Legislation that DeGette championed in 2016 to address this difference passed the House in the 114th Congress but didn't see action in the Senate.
DeGette introduced H.R. 518 at the first opportunity this year, and it quickly gained support and passed the House.