Conserving electricity

Friday, April 17, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.

The next few years could bring major changes in how we use and generate electricity, all with an eye toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions and producing jobs. President Barack Obama has led the charge by seeking to improve our power grids, rely more heavily on wind, solar and geothermal energy, and have 1 million plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles on American highways by 2015.

Those are worthy goals but so, too, is electricity conservation.

It will take time, perhaps several years, to upgrade the nation’s electrical power grids to accommodate alternative energy production and the electricity demands that will need to be met to operate plug-in automobiles.

That’s why the California Energy Commission has the right idea by also thinking about ways to conserve electricity. As The New York Times reported Wednesday, the commission has proposed that televisions sold in that state use 50 percent less energy by 2013. The commission expects to act on its proposal this summer.

The reason for targeting televisions — and the DVD players and other electronic gadgets connected to them — is that they consume 10 percent of the electricity used in an average California household. The Times reported that certain plasma sets use 30 percent more energy per square inch than liquid crystal displays.

Because of California’s influence as the nation’s largest state, and because of its reputation as an environmental trend setter, television manufacturers are certain to take notice that increased energy efficiency is sure to become a higher priority in the near future. Manufacturers of other energy-consuming appliances should also be prepared to improve the efficiency of their products.

Also, history is on the commission’s side. It was 30 years ago that the commission began cracking down on inefficient refrigerators. The models sold today use one-fourth of the electricity as the refrigerators produced then.

Consumers ultimately win by purchasing energy-efficient products not only because it will lower their utility bills, but also because their conservation efforts will reduce the need to spend money on new power plants.