January 2010 – California's Energy Efficient Appliance Program became effective January 1, 2010. The initiative impacts all indoor residential lighting sold in the state of California.

Title 20 of this broad appliance efficiency regulation, approved by the California Energy Commission in December 2008, establishes requirements for portable residential lamps. According to Residential Lighting (August 24, 2009), manufacturers have five options for compliance:

1. Manufacturers must include a compact fluorescent lamp in the product packaging so that a standard screw-based socket can be used in the lamp, but the lamp would be considered energy efficient. This option, nicknamed "bulb-in-a-box," allows manufacturers to continue shipping lamps with screw-based sockets into California. If the lamp has a three-way socket or dimming socket, then the bulb in the box must be compatible with that socket.
2. The second option for compliance is to ship only portable lamps with dedicated fluorescent sockets to California dealers.
3. The third option is to build lamps for California with a new kind of socket – GU 24 – which can only be used with compact fluorescents.
4. The fourth option is to equip lamps with LED light engines that plug in, screw in or are self-contained and meet certain efficiency requirements.
5. Last, portable lamps can be equipped with a single-ended, non-screw-based halogen lamp socket. This can be a standard or low voltage light source, but the lamp must have a dimmer or high/low control and the maximum wattage allowed is 100 watt.

A federal energy bill that passed in the U.S. House last year includes provisions similar to those in California's Title 20.