Minnesota Set to Ban Fluorescent Lightbulb Sales on Jan. 1

Businesses, nonprofits, and other commercial users still relying on fluorescent lighting face a key deadline.

Image: Fluorescent lamp | Definition, Types & Facts | Britannica

On Jan. 1, 2026, Phase 2 of Minnesota’s Clean Lighting Law takes effect, ending the sale of all fluorescent lightbulbs in the state. Phase 1, which began Jan. 1, 2025, had already banned screw- and bayonet-base compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Phase 2 extends that prohibition to pin-base linear and compact fluorescent lamps.

In the law, the term “lamp” refers to what most people simply call lightbulbs. Screw-base CFLs twist into a socket, bayonet-base CFLs lock in with studs on the side, and pin-base bulbs connect through pins on the bottom. CFLs have a single base and come in shapes like spirals, coils, circles, or folded forms. Linear fluorescent lamps have two end caps and may be straight or shaped in a U-bend.

“The ban on selling these lamps in the state of Minnesota is Jan. 1, 2026,” said Mark Rader, a lighting consultant for the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE). “This includes both commercial and private sales. You’ll have to drive out of state to buy one.”

The Clean Lighting Law, overseen by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), aims to reduce mercury exposure in the environment. Bulbs already in use are exempt and can stay in place until they burn out. Certain products that require fluorescent lamps, such as photocopiers and printers, are also exempt.

Rader noted it’s hard to know how many fluorescent bulbs are still installed in homes, schools, warehouses, factories, and other public or commercial spaces.

“I have the feeling the Jan. 1, 2026, deadline is going to catch a lot of folks off-guard,” Rader said.