California ranks first among all U.S. states for its policies and programs on energy efficiency. And we don’t just look good on paper: California is the nation’s third-largest electricity consumer, but has the lowest per capita electricity use in the U.S. Thanks to efficiency standards developed by the California Energy Commission for appliances and buildings, we’re doing more with less!
As the fourth largest economy in the world, California clearly is not held back by energy efficiency. In fact, efficiency standards have a way of jumpstarting innovation, leading to modern-day appliances and building standards that we just couldn’t imagine living without – think giant, flat-screen televisions, LED lightbulbs, double-paned windows, heat pumps, and big, efficient refrigerators. You may not know it, but efficiency standards have been quietly helping you do what you do, only better, bigger, brighter, healthier, and more comfortably.
How have efficiency standards been helping? Click on the frequently asked questions below to find out the answers.
When the California Energy Commission (CEC) was founded in 1975, part of its mandate was to find ways to use energy more efficiently to help slow the state’s growing energy demands and build fewer expensive power plants. The first efficiency standards were developed in 1977 to reduce energy or water use by appliances sold or offered for sale in California. As a result of building and appliance energy efficiency standards, Californians’ per-capita electricity use stayed the same for decades despite more electronics—while energy use in other states grew by over 50%.
But efficiency standards don’t just save California from having to build more power plants—they save consumers money on their utility bills. It’s part of every efficiency standards’ requirements for adoption: they have to be cost effective.
Energy efficiency has long been recognized as the foundation of modern energy policy—the “first fuel.” Yet its value is often overlooked because its benefits are quietly operating in the background. Energy efficiency delivers benefits we rarely see, prevents problems we never experience, and eliminates costs we never have to pay.
California has some of the best standards in the world to ensure that buildings are built efficiently, which saves money, improves indoor air quality, and reduces emissions that contribute to climate change. Part 6 of Title 24 (the California Building Standards Code) is also known as the Energy Code, and sets building standards that apply to new construction and extensive building renovations. It enforces efficiency for things like window and door materials, lighting, insulation, faucets, and electrical panels.
These standards are very important because homes and businesses use nearly 70 percent of California’s electricity - PDF and are responsible for about 25 percent of California’s GHG emissions! Reducing energy demand to stay in step with the development of clean energy sources will help California cut GHG emissions to slow climate change; reduce pollution from combustion to improve air quality; balance energy demands on the electrical grid so power is available to everyone; save people money; and reduce the need for new power plants and energy infrastructure. The 2025 California Energy Code - PDF, which went into effect January 1, 2026, is expected to save Californians $4.8 billion in energy costs over 30 years as a result of energy-efficient building design.
Not only do building standards save Californians money and significantly protect people from future climate-related disasters, but they lead to healthier and more comfortable buildings to live in. New homes burn little to no gas for heating or cooking, which means less fumes or pollution in the home. They are also incredibly well sealed, meaning no drafts from doors and windows, and they have great insulation. Furthermore, homes with heat pumps are silent and maintain steady temperature.
California’s efficiency standards for appliances and buildings have saved residents over $200 billion dollars in energy costs they would have spent without efficiency measures in place.
In 2025 alone, Californians saved approximately $14.7 billion on energy costs thanks to appliance efficiency standards. That’s $373 in savings, on average, for every person in the state! Here is where some of those savings came from in 2025:
- $6.6 billion from lighting
- $2 billion from battery chargers
- $2.2 billion from TVs
- $631 million from computers
- $194 million from computer monitors
Making our homes and buildings energy efficient means reducing current and future energy costs. As the state works on making energy more affordable, Californians can take action, too: insulating their attics and sealing their homes can save people substantial money on heating and cooling and make their homes healthier and more comfortable. Improved indoor air quality reduces asthma rates, which results in healthcare savings.
Sometimes the up-front cost can initially be a little higher, but any additional up-front cost is soon paid for with savings—and then some—and those savings keep adding up. Standards must be cost-effective to be approved. And history shows that prices decrease for most products and sometimes continue falling beyond the original price. For example, take a look at light bulbs. According to Energy Star, a typical incandescent 60-watt bulb would last about a year with average use. An LED equivalent lasts about 15 years, or more. EnergyStar calculated - PDF that over 15 years, a person pays about $18 for 15 years of lighting from an LED ($2 for the bulb and $16 in energy use) versus about $99 for the 15-year-equivalent use of incandescent bulbs. Most of the energy use of an incandescent bulb is lost to heat rather than producing light, making an LED light bulb about 90% more efficient than its incandescent predecessor. The innovation doesn’t stop there. As the LED market developed, choice flourished. Light bulbs come in almost every color and in many cases, you can change the color with a remote to suit your mood.
Similarly, the first refrigerator standards were enacted in the 1980s. Since that time, refrigerators have become larger, cheaper to purchase, and three times more efficient, driven by innovation.
Yes, for the better. Efficiency standards often trigger improvements in product effectiveness and quality. One LED lightbulb uses just a sixth of the electricity that an incandescent 60-watt bulb uses, and its lifespan is 15 to 20 times longer - PDF. The CEC’s lighting efficiency standards also required improvement of the quality of LED lights, not just the efficiency.
And consider the trajectory of computing efficiency—it has been transformative, triggering the development of smart phones, which are essentially small computers we can put in our pockets, as well as the emergence and rapid evolution of artificial intelligence.
Not only do efficient products do the same job as well or better than their inefficient counterparts, but the impacts of lowering energy consumption are multifold. Switching to LED bulbs avoided 20,186 GWh of electricity for lighting in 2025 alone – which is more power than the Diablo Canyon Power Plant puts out in a year. Less electricity means less demand on the grid, less pollution, and fewer new power plants. Read more: Appliance Standards Avoided Air Pollution.
When a product with a new efficiency standard first launches, manufacturers have already been preparing by developing new products that meet the standards. At first, consumers may notice some products missing from the shelves – those are the lowest-end, inefficient products. Manufacturers quickly respond by advancing technology to meet the standards and their customers’ needs.
For example, TV standards to address power consumption have triggered significant growth in consumer choice. Since 2005, when standards were passed, TVs evolved to offer larger, flatter screens, replacing high-energy-consuming plasma TVs. The introduction of LED backlighting of screens helped LCD TVs use even less energy. Manufacturers also expanded their offerings to include brighter, sharper organic LED (oLED) - PDF TVs. As these TVs got larger, brighter, clearer, and more energy efficient, they also got cheaper.
As California faces unpredictable snowpack to feed its rivers and reservoirs, and as other water sources like the Colorado River run low and restrict access, the state needs to get even smarter about its water use. With decades of experience successfully developing and enforcing energy efficiency standards, the CEC also develops water efficiency standards. Water and energy efficiency are two sides of the same coin – water savings also result in energy savings because treating, heating, or moving water throughout the state uses a lot of energy.
The Appliance Efficiency Program has helped save consumers water and money with updated designs of water appliances such as faucets, showerheads, spray sprinklers, and toilets. These water efficiency standards saved Californians $1.2 billion dollars in 2025 alone.
In 2016, CEC introduced water efficiency standards for toilets, and by 2025, toilets meeting those standards had saved 10 billion gallons, which is the equivalent of 15,150 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Using less water helps keep water available and saves consumers money.
The price consumers pay for electricity depends on many factors: the amount of electricity we use as well as other factors, such as fixed costs for new energy infrastructure, maintenance of transmission lines and equipment, and, increasingly, utility work to prevent or repair damage from wildfires.
Compared with 10-20 years ago, we plug in many more appliances: phones, computers, TVs, tablets, air fryers, and more. Yet, per person use of electricity has remained low thanks to energy efficiency. As we continue to use more energy, new efficiency standards help soften increases in demand, keep our bills from climbing even higher, and help us avoid big expenses on new infrastructure. It’s much cheaper to use energy more efficiently than it is to build new power plants. This was one of the very reasons the Energy Commission was created in the 1970s – avoid the massive build-out of new power plants.
With many factors contributing to rising electricity costs, it can be hard to feel the value of efficiency savings. Energy efficiency operates in the background, delivering benefits we rarely see, preventing problems we never experience, and eliminating costs we never have to pay. It drives technological progress, reduces environmental and financial burdens, and quietly improves quality of life across almost every sector of the economy.
Without appliance standards, consumers would pay more to operate every appliance and device with a plug in their homes – and that’s a lot of plugs. More energy use means more power plants, higher energy costs, and more air pollution. If you took away efficiency standards for battery chargers, for example, that would cost Californians almost $4.5 billion in utility bills over 25 years. It would drive up energy use by more than 24,400 gigawatt hours (GWh), which would increase peak demand on the electrical grid, jeopardizing electricity reliability. Now multiply that by every energy efficient appliance in your home. Going backward on efficiency would be an automatic price hike on energy bills.
California has often led the way in efficiency standards for appliances before other states, or even the federal government. There are many instances in which California’s standards later inspired federal law through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) appliance standards program, such as those for refrigerators, TVs, light bulbs, and commercial and industrial fans and blowers. Where there are federal standards, however, California does not have its own, separate standard for the same appliance. California standards only cover appliances and devices not covered by federal law.
California standards not only drive change at the federal level, they drive change around the world. Because California’s consumer population is so large, it moves markets, and manufacturers following California standards readily find a market in other states. It just makes economic sense to follow California’s example.
Of course! The Energy Commission’s efficiency standards development and approval process is open to the public, with Californians invited to attend workshops, submit new energy efficiency measures for consideration, and comment on proposed code updates. This can be done online as well as at public business meetings of the CEC. CEC reads all public comments and regularly updates final rulemakings to incorporate public input. Additionally, every standard-setting process involves working with the industries and manufacturers that are being regulated to ensure proposed efficiency standards are feasible and cost effective.
There are many steps you can take to increase your home’s energy efficiency and save money—even in hot summers or cold winters. Our Homeowner and Renter Energy Resources page has tips to help, whether you own or rent.