Had it not been for the same state government, there never would have been (or continued to be) a power crisis. The solution here is to allow power companies to build more power plants, not ban the incandescent light bulb.

As an aside, I wonder if they’re going to make an exception for things like theaters and other places where artistic lighting is needed. If not, then clearly this statute fails under the First Amendment. ;-)

But this issue might have more to do with California’s power crisis (rolling blackouts, etc.).

That being said, as an electrical engineer, I’d like to encourage people to make the switch. Compact flourescent is usually a little more expensive to buy, but it uses much less power and the bulbs last significantly longer than a typical incandescent bulb. Incandescent bulbs are very wasteful, because most of the power running through them is lost as heat, not emitted as light.

*in the bathroom
*when completely covered by a globe or other enclosure

and if I lived in an apartment with a neighbour upstairs who likes to stomp around a lot, I surely would not appreciate having expensive CFL bulbs blown out.

Like many ideas to impose standards on people without their consent, this one is well-intended but seriously flawed.