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Idiot. What about the price increases in appliances? Do they think that by simply waving their hand they can have appliances that use fewer watts when they're turned off?

Probably. And they're probably not 100% wrong. I would suspect that the increase in demand for efficient off-line switchers is going to cause more companies to develop inexpensive ones. There may be some market inertia, but I suspect there are some definite improvements to be made. That having been said, things like clock displays are going to use power regardless of the supply efficiency.

Maybe, but this isn't a demand created in the marketplace, it's a regulation. I've been in a factory that makes electrical boards, zillions of them. They're cheap because they've been making them forever and they're readily available. When they're changed to consume less watts it'll have a major impact on those factories - and for what? To whose benefit? Supposedly it'll benefit the consumer, but the consumer isn't asking for this.

I can see some obvious benefits if they make this work, but I always cringe when I see government mandating this and that on an industry without considering the implications.