State looks to save watts as a light bulb goes on

He has caught some flak for upgrading his drapes, desk, and settee. But yesterday Governor Deval Patrick received nothing but praise when he announced he had upgraded the lighting in his State House office, ditching his old incandescent bulbs for energy-saving fluorescents.

Patrick said yesterday that 170 of the compact bulbs have been installed in his executive suite and that 1,000 of them will eventually illuminate the State House, saving $15,000 annually and reducing carbon emissions by many tons a year. He also said he will douse all lights inside state buildings on nights and weekends, although the historic State House facade will still be bathed in floodlights after dark.

Patrick said the new lighting and lights-off policy are part of a broader effort, outlined in an executive order he signed yesterday, that seeks to make state government a beacon of energy efficiency.

"In my administration, we intend to practice what we preach," Patrick said in a statement.

Patrick's order directs agencies to slash energy use 20 percent below 2002 levels by 2012 and 35 percent by 2020. It also requires them to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to amounts 25 percent below 2002 levels over the next five years, 40 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050.

Susan Reid, a staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, called Patrick's order "ambitious and realistic."

"It's really critical that the state walks the walk," she said.

Secretary of environmental affairs Ian A. Bowles, said of the measures Patrick ordered: "This is going to the outer limits of what we can do, in terms of our administrative authority, to really aggressively push energy reduction."

The bulbs were donated by Osram Sylvania, a Massachusetts-based company, and screwed in with the help of two City Year volunteers. Bowles said the point was to inspire people to change their bulbs at home. If every Massachusetts resident changed one bulb from an incandescent to a compact fluorescent, which use 75 percent less electricity, consumers would save a total of $20 million annually, he said.

"It's a small thing, but these lights use so much power," Bowles said. "It's just a great, simple example of how easy it is to make a difference yourself."

Last week, Mayor Thomas M. Menino unveiled a similar plan to make Boston a leader in energy efficiency. Under Menino's program, city government, which owns more than 400 buildings and 2,000 vehicles, must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 and by 80 percent by 2050.

Patrick said his plan was inspired in part by his maternal grandfather, an "early conservationist" who routinely turned off the lights in his apartment to save money during the Depression.

At a State House press conference announcing the initiative, Senate President Therese Murray called Patrick's order "a great beginning."

Material from State House News Service was used in this report. Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.