Drop any fears the light bulb police might be peeking in your windows or pounding on the door New Year’s Day searching for energy-hungry incandescents.

Energy Minister Chris Bentley confirmed Wednesday that Ontario is scrapping a five-year-old promise to make it “lights out” for incandescent bulbs in 2012 by banning stores from selling them.

He blamed a recent federal government decision to delay new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs until Jan. 1, 2014, when it will become illegal to import inefficient incandescent lighting across the country.

“Did it make sense for us to have a different approach from the federal government on this issue? No,” Bentley said.

“Our thinking is how do we make it easiest for consumers. It would be hard and confusing to do it differently.”

The Star first reported on Saturday that the Ontario promise, made by former energy minister Dwight Duncan in 2007, was in jeopardy because of the federal move.

But postponing the incandescent ban for two years will just make it harder for the province to meet its energy conservation targets already under fire by Ontario Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller, said New Democrat environment critic Peter Tabuns.

“In keeping with the season, this is a lump of coal,” said the MPP for Toronto-Danforth, noting that the new compact fluorescent bulbs use less than half the electricity of incandescent bulbs.

Ottawa changed its plans to “allow for innovations in technology” and to improve recycling options for new energy-efficient bulbs, which last far longer and use less electricity than incandescents, but contain mercury.

That means consumers should be disposing of compact fluorescent bulbs in hazardous waste dumps, as they would with old paint and other toxic household substances, said Bentley.

The two-year reprieve for the incandescents ban will give governments time to come up with a “better approach” for disposing of compact fluorescents, he added.

Also in 2014, energy efficiency levels will be increased for 100- and 75-watt light bulbs, with higher levels expected for 60- and 40-watt bulbs by the end of that year.

Banning incandescent bulbs was intended as an energy conservation measure and to ease pressure on energy ratepayers because building new electricity plants, green power and infrastructure is costly.

Under political pressure from opposition parties over rising electricity prices caused by upgrading the provincial power system, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government last year brought in a 10 per cent cut on residential, farm and small business electric bills called the Clean Energy Benefit.

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But taxpayers are still paying the cost of that break on their bills, because it costs the provincial treasury more than $1 billion annually at a time when the government is running a $16 billion deficit.

As well, Bentley has still not said how much it will cost taxpayers for cancelled power plants in Oakville and Mississauga.