Lights out for the incandescent bulb in California

Los Angeles: The brightest bulb in most homes for more than a century is fading toward darkness this year as California turns out the light on the century-old incandescent.

Beginning Jan. 1, the state began phasing out certain energy-sucking bulbs, federal standards the rest of the country will enact next year. Manufacturers will no longer make the traditional 100-watt bulb. The 75-, 60- and 40-watt incandescent bulbs will be phased out by 2014.

Consumers will have to choose from more efficient bulbs including halogen, compact fluorescents and light-emitting diode, or LED, bulbs. The change is part of the federal Energy Independence and Security Act that President George W. Bush signed in 2007.