Sep. 19--California on Friday took aim at an increasingly controversial type of energy hog.

Not SUVs. Flat-screen TVs.

Sparking a battle with the electronics industry, the California Energy Commission on Friday released the nation's first rules mandating energy efficiency for televisions. Under the rules, new TV sets sold in California will be required to reduce electricity consumption 30 percent by 2011 and 50 percent by 2013 from current models.

As Americans have increasingly switched to big LCD and plasma TVs, electricity use has skyrocketed. Once a minor part of home electricity use, today TVs, along with DVRs, DVD players and cable boxes, make up 10 percent of an average homeowner's electricity bill.

"Our concern was that with 35 million televisions in California, and 4 million new ones sold every year -- the majority of which are flat screens -- electricity use is increasing," said Susanne Garfield, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission, in Sacramento.

"More and more homes are also having more and more TVs," she said. "People are using them as DVD players, game players and entertainment centers."

Reducing use

If finalized in November, as expected, the standards are projected to reduce statewide electricity use by nearly 600 megawatts from 2011 to 2021, according to the agency. That would mean the state would need to construct one less major power plant.

Using

less electricity means less fossil fuels burned, less smog and less greenhouse gas emissions, Garfield said.

Industry groups blasted the move, saying it would cost jobs and slow the development of anticipated features like 3-D high definition and Internet-compatible televisions.

"We share the goal of energy efficiency and have worked with the (commission) to develop alternatives that will achieve the same or better energy efficiency goals without killing jobs or thwarting innovation," said Doug Johnson, senior director of technology policy for the Consumer Electronics Association.

But the state, he added, "has chosen to ignore alternatives and input, and small businesses and consumers in California will pay the price."

The association released a study asserting that the new standards will all but ban the sales of some large-screen plasma TV sets, and will cost California 4,600 jobs in retail sales, installation and distribution. Opponents of the rule include Best Buy and the Plasma Display Coalition.

Environmental groups noted that the industry already is making some flat-screen TVs that comply with the rules, and that they cost no more than similar-sized models.