California Plans Ban on Power-Guzzling TVs

The consumer electronics industry is kicking hard against California's plans to introduce energy consumption maximums for TV sets. An industry lobby group argues that buyers should be allowed to decide whether they want a power-hungry flat-screen TV set or not, and warns that the move could cost the state jobs by sending TV buyers out of state to pick up their chosen model. The measure looks likely to pass despite the objections, notes the Los Angeles Times.

State regulators say that with televisions now accounting for a tenth of the average power bill, the move will end up saving consumers a combined $1 billion a year. Some TV manufacturers say they won't have any trouble meeting the proposed standards by the 2011 deadline, although a Panasonic exec calls the regulations cumbersome and unnecessary. A much better idea, he tells the San Jose Mercury News, would be to bring in a "cash-for-clunker TV" program.
(More California stories.)