Sacramento (California), Nov 19 (DPA) California regulators have passed new regulations to ban power-hungry flat screen televisions from store shelves.

The regulations adopted Wednesday by the California Energy Commission are the strictest in the US and will require manufacturers of LCD and plasma televisions to meet progressively stricter energy guidelines starting in 2011.

The television industry opposed the new regulations which were supported by environmental groups which cited estimates that the rules would save the state $1 billion a year.

The average plasma screen TV uses more than three times the power as a bulky cathode ray tube TV, the energy commission says. It estimates that televisions account for about 10 percent of a home's electricity use and that they will use eight percent more electricity a year as consumers switch to larger televisions.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the commission's action as a reflection of California's leadership on environmental matters, noting that the state's per-capita electricity consumption has remained flat over the last three decades while energy consumption nationwide has increased.