Market Barriers:
Artificial lighting accounts for up to 10 percent of the average household’s energy use, and about half of that is being wasted due to inefficient or unneeded lighting. In the late 1990s, Northwest market share for what was expected to be the holy grail of energy efficient lighting -- compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) -- was at a mere one percent, despite relatively high consumer awareness.
Although a small number of manufacturers offered CFLs, quality was low, average prices were $14 to $24 per bulb, and product features such as bulb size and shape did not meet the average consumer’s expectations. These barriers were preventing widespread acceptance and adoption of CFLs.
NEEA Action:
To achieve market transformation for CFLs in the Northwest, NEEA pursued several strategies, including helping to improve the quality and consumer acceptance of CFLs. In 2000, the Northwest ENERGY STAR® residential lighting program approached Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to determine how to reduce the size of CFLs while also reducing the price. These efforts ultimately led to the development of subcompact CFLs and twister bulbs.
NEEA and its partners also worked with other efficiency advocates to address quality concerns about CFLs. For example, NEEA helped fund and manage a national third-party test called PEARL (Program for the Evaluation & Analysis of Residential Lighting). This program randomly pulled bulbs from retail shelves in order to test them and ensure they met ENERGY STAR criteria. The ENERGY STAR program embraced PEARL and the U.S. Department of Energy eventually required that manufacturers conduct and fund these tests on their own.
To promote these new, more consumer friendly bulbs, utilities came together with NEEA in 2001 to create a consumer CFL coupon campaign. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funded retail coupons for CFLs, and NEEA’s ENERGY STAR Consumer Products team facilitated the creation and launch of the promotion. NEEA encouraged retailers who had never stocked CFLs to do so by supporting in-store merchandising and promotions, and providing staff training. At the same time, NEEA leveraged the resources and incentives offered by its utility partners to convince CFL manufacturers to increase production.
In one year, the coupon campaign doubled the number of Northwest retailers carrying CFLs, and Northwest sales of CFL bulbs jumped from just 350,000 to 6.5 million bulbs—an increase of 1,700 percent. Since then, Northwest utilities have continued with regional coupon campaigns such as Savings with a Twist, as well as their own local promotions through retail channels. Annual sales of CFLs have steadily grown, topping 10.7 million in 2006. The average CFL bulb is now priced below $5 (often less with rebates), compared to incandescent bulbs that average about $.50 a piece. However, factoring in that consumers will typically go through 10 traditional bulbs in the time it takes one CFL to burn out -- the price difference is negligible.
Regional Impact:
Today, the Northwest sells four times as many CFL bulbs per capita than the national average. As of 2006, annual Northwest CFL sales topped 10.7 million, saving three billion kWh and 4.4 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to removing more than 380,000 cars from the road. In addition, the PEARL testing program initiated by NEEA has become a national industry standard, leading to higher quality CFL products across the board.
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Market Barriers
- Low quality
- Avg prices $14 to $24 per bulb
- Did not meet consumer expectations
- CFLs had only 1% of NW market share
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Regional Results
- 10.7 million CFLs sold in 2006
- Sales four times the national average
- Three billion kWh saved in 2006
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