California: “Plasma/LCD TV’s use too much energy, therefore we are banning them”.

Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds.  California being the environmentally conscious state that it is, is taking a rather drastic and ridiculous step.  They are proposing banning the sale of certain “inefficient TV’s, mainly Plasma and LCD TV’s.  The strain on California’s power grid is apparently too much and they are looking for every possible means to reduce the load.  The LA Times is pushing hard the fact that LCD TV’s use 43% more power than traditional tube-style TV’s of yesteryear.  One thing the conveniently leave out of their report is that LCD TV’s, unlike the old tube TV’s, don’t look like absolute crap! (I guess they didn’t get that memo). 

While I criticize the measure pretty hard, I do see the other side of the store on this issue.  Other household appliances such as stoves, refrigerators, etc have had restrictions and guidelines set up for years.  Now the industry is doing well, though I’m sure at first there were hiccups.  The same will probably hold true for the consumer electronics industry.  The first tier will go into affect on Jan. 1, 2011 and a more strict second tier on Jan 1, 2013.  Some specs for thought: A tier 1 TV will save you on average $18.48 per year.  Tier 2 sets would save an additional $11.76 a year.  While those numbers aren’t very impressive, multiply that by tens of thousands of people as well as the toll it takes off of the power grid and you have some more impressive numbers starting to appear!  The LA Times goes on saying the bill would also be a triple benefit to California’s economy by lowering residential taxes, boosting the economy, and helping California meetings their emissions goals.

Source: Crunch Gear , LA Times