2001—A CFL Odyssey: What Went Right?

Chris Calwell and John Zugel, Ecos Consulting
Peter Banwell and Wendy Reed, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Keywords

Abstract

After years of steady but unremarkable sales increases, compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) sales soared in the U.S. in 2001. Relative to 2000 levels, national retail sales more than doubled, California sales increased by more than four times, and Northwest sales by roughly 10 times.

Why did this happen in such a short period of time? What lessons does it offer for future efforts to transform the markets for residential lighting and other energy efficient products? This paper examines a number of drivers for higher CFL sales and whether their impacts will persist:

Power shortages in California and impacts on nearby regions
Rising electricity rates
Actions by public officials encouraging consumers to save energy
Lower wholesale CFL prices, due to economies of scale and greater competition
Improvements in CFL technology and testing for product quality
Expanded Energy Star® promotions, including "Change a Light, Change the World”
Greatly increased utility incentives, primarily for resource-acquisition
Longstanding utility-funded efforts to build retail sales infrastructure and awareness

We explore the results of 2001 not as a single-year phenomenon, but as the culmination of a decade-long odyssey of sustained promotion and infrastructure-building. In other word, resource acquisition succeeded after and because substantial market transformation had already been done.

This paper primarily examines California and national data. However, meaningful comparisons can also be made with the Northwest and Northeast CFL experiences.