New LIT Act Clears the Way for Less Efficient Light Bulbs by Canceling Federal Standards

The “Liberating Incandescent Technology Act of 2025,” or LIT Act, is primarily a technical cleanup bill that makes sweeping changes to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) regarding light bulbs. The core action here is twofold: first, it’s a necessary legislative cleanup, removing outdated definitions and renumbering large sections of the law to keep the books straight. Second, and much more importantly for your electric bill, it explicitly strikes out and cancels several key energy efficiency standards for general service lamps—the standard light bulbs we use every day.

The Great Renumbering: Fixing the Bureaucracy

If you’ve ever tried to follow a complex government regulation, you know how quickly cross-references can get messy. This bill spends a lot of time cleaning up that mess. For example, it deletes an old definition (paragraph (14) in Section 322(a) of EPCA) and then shifts all the subsequent paragraphs down. This means every time the law referenced paragraph (15), it now has to reference (14), and so on. The bill goes through Sections 321, 324, and 325, updating dozens of these references. While this bureaucratic housekeeping sounds boring, it’s crucial: it keeps the law internally consistent so lawyers and regulators know exactly which definition applies where.

Lights Out for Efficiency Standards

This is where the bill hits your wallet. The LIT Act doesn’t just renumber things; it actively removes existing energy conservation requirements. Specifically, it strikes out subsection (i) in Section 325 of EPCA and replaces it with the word “Reserved.” That subsection previously laid out standards for certain lamps. Furthermore, the bill explicitly cancels specific rules published by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the Federal Register, including those that set energy conservation standards and definitions for general service lamps. This is a clear signal that the federal government is stepping back from mandating energy efficiency for these products.

What This Means for Your Home and Budget

For the busy person trying to manage rising costs, this change is a trade-off. By removing the DOE’s efficiency standards, the bill effectively clears the path for manufacturers to sell less energy-efficient light bulbs—including older incandescent technology—that were previously phased out or restricted. On the one hand, this might mean a slightly cheaper upfront cost for a bulb at the hardware store. On the other hand, those cheaper bulbs burn significantly more electricity. If you’ve switched to LEDs in your home, you know the difference: an LED might cost $3 but save you $100 over its lifespan compared to an incandescent bulb that costs $1 upfront but runs up your monthly electric bill. This bill removes the federal mandate pushing manufacturers toward the more efficient, long-term savings option. Over time, this could mean higher electricity costs for consumers who opt for the less-efficient, newly available bulbs.

The Regulatory Vacuum

By striking out these standards and canceling the related DOE rules, the LIT Act creates a regulatory vacuum. While the bill cleans up the statute books, it simultaneously removes the protections that ensured consumers were buying the most energy-efficient products possible under federal law. The DOE now has to navigate this gap, figuring out how to update its documentation and potentially address the environmental and consumer impacts of allowing less efficient lighting back onto the market. For those of us who appreciate the long-term savings and environmental benefits of efficient lighting, this is a significant step backward, prioritizing the availability of older technology over modern energy conservation.