MURRAY CAMPBELL -globeandmail.com

Ontario will ban the sale of inefficient incandescent light bulbs by 2012 as part of a large-scale effort to conserve energy and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

It will be the first province in Canada — and one of the first jurisdictions in the world — to outlaw the traditional bulb. Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said yesterday that replacing all 87 million incandescent bulbs in Ontario households with more efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs would save six million megawatt hours annually, which is enough to power 600,000 houses.

Such a reduction should allow the province to scale back the number of new gas-fired electricity-generation plants needed. Provincial officials said the switch to CFL bulbs — which use about one-quarter of the electricity of standard incandescent bulbs — would have the same impact on greenhouse-gas emissions as taking 250,000 cars off the road.

To encourage the switch, the Ontario Power Authority is mailing incentive coupons valued at $44 to every household in the province.

The government is banning “inefficient” bulbs rather than the entire category of incandescent bulbs, because it is holding out the possibility that the older technology can be improved.

Kim Warburton, a spokeswoman for General Electric Canada, said yesterday that the company hopes to market an incandescent bulb that is as energy-efficient as a CFL product by 2012.

The ban is on the sale of bulbs and not their use. Government officials said Ontarians would be encouraged to make the switch to CFLs, but that there would be no enforcement of the ban beyond the point of sale.

The officials said that while the focus of the effort is houses and small businesses, the government would work with industries to phase out their inefficient lighting.

Some exceptions to the ban would be made, particularly for medical use where very bright lights are needed. But Mr. Duncan pledged that the television lights in the legislature would be replaced.

He said the ban on traditional incandescent bulbs, together with other new programs to take old refrigerators out of service, offer incentives for cutting back power demand and tune up air-conditioning systems, position Ontario as a global leader in energy conservation.

The government is extending across the province a Toronto Hydro pilot project that will allow participating ratepayers to receive a 10-per-cent credit on their July-August bill if they reduce their electricity consumption by 10 per cent from the previous year during the summer months.

The government’s move was endorsed by environmental groups.

“Wahoo,” said an exultant Chris Winter, executive director of the Conservation Council of Ontario.

“It’s a major step forward, it’s one of those things that’s a no-brainer.”

From The Globe and Mail, See the Origional Article