DOE Shelves Energy Conservation Standards for HID

The U.S. Department of Energy issued a decision in December that mandatory energy conservation standards for high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps are not technically feasible or economically justified. Furthermore, the DOE determined that higher energy conservation standards for HID lamps would not yield significant energy savings for the nation.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, requires DOE to prescribe test procedures and energy conservation standards for HID lamps for which it has determined that standards would be technologically feasible and economically justified, and would result in significant energy savings. In this final determination, DOE determines that energy conservation standards for HID lamps do not meet these criteria.

Said the DOE in the ruling, “Specifically, DOE concludes that standards for high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps are not technologically feasible, and that standards for mercury vapor (MV) and metal halide (MH) lamps are not economically justified (HPS, MV, and MH lamps are subcategories of HID lamps). DOE’s determination is based on analysis of several efficacy levels as a means of conserving energy.”