Continuing our yearly tradition, we’re looking back on the year 2022 to see what stories interested you, our readers, the most. This year’s stories may be the most interesting yet. Like all previous Top 10s, the list is decided by total number of views, from greatest to least. Here are the top 10 stories of 2022.
We were a bit surprised to see that a story involving two relatively small companies was the top story of 2022. Originally published on August 1st, mate. LLC filed a lawsuit on July 26th alleging that Environmental Lights, LLC infringed on six US patents related to low-voltage power supplies. In the complaint, mate alleged that Environmental Lights sourced and sold various private label power supply products imported from China that infringed on mate’s patents.There haven’t been any updates related to this case so we assume it is still going through the lengthy litigation process.
On September 2nd, EdisonReport was sad to report that Edison Price Lighting was evicted from their facility at 41-10 22nd Street in Long Island City. The judgment was entered 11 JUL, 2022 and awarded the plaintiff, United Development Venture, LLC, $456,316 against Elite Lighting, Edison Price Architectural Lighting and Edison Price New York LLC.
Yes, it’s 2022 and COVID still made headlines in conventional media and EdisonReport. On June 27th, Mark Roush told Editor Randy Reid of a mutual friend who was sick with COVID. Our team investigated and learned of more people who attended LightFair and contracted COVID. The total number was originally 63, but by June 30th the number rose to 192. Besides this hang up, 2022 saw a great return of tradeshows and in-person events.
Speaking of LightFair, coming in at number 4 is LightFair’s announcement of its move to a biennial schedule. Taking place in the off years of Light + Building, LightFair’s decision generated a lot of buzz in the lighting industry. EdisonReport conducted a survey and 84% of respondents supported the change. Incidentally, for this bold change of direction, EdisonReport recently named Dan Darby 2022 Person of the Year.
On April 25th, we reported of big changes in the IES roster. Many big names were missing including Brian Liebel, Mark Lien, Alex Baker, Dawn De Grazio, Jennifer Jacques, Nikkia Thompson, and Nikole Giglione. These individuals are big contributors to the industry, and it was surprising to see them gone amid the IES’ reorganization.
On November 9th, during the election, Editor Randy Reid’s phone and email blew up over a statement made by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy. In a video of Jimmy Kimmel making fun of Lindell talking about voter fraud, Lindell mentioned his voter fraud project is called Edison Report. We emphasized at the time that EdisonReport is not related to Edison Report or Mike Lindell or MyPillow. We, again, want to iterate that we are not affiliated with Mike Lindell in any way.
On November 13th, we received a call from Brian Dauskurdas, Principal of Force Partners, to let us know that Cooper Lighting Solutions and Force Partners had amicably concluded their relationship. He explained that Force will continue to represent Cooper for the remainder of the calendar year. We published Force Partners announcement in the original article, and within approximately 30 minutes we received Cooper’s announcement as well.
Continuing the Edison Price saga, on September 12th a press release by Edison Price Lighting was shared, seemingly without being reviewed. When we originally reported the eviction, Edison Price responded they had moved before the eviction. This press release says they moved on a date that would have been after the eviction. Additionally, the claim of their new location being a sustainable facility was not supported by public records of the building. There were many reasons to be concerned for Edison Price Lighting at the time, but we hope they are doing well now.
This is one of the more interesting ones, mainly because it was actually published last year. We assume that this article was used as a reference and revisited multiple times for information on fluorescent phase-out and sustainability. The article, written by Nyamolo Abagi, CLiC, details how the phase-out of fluorescents presents a great opportunity for the advancement of LED lighting. Thanks to major advances in LED technology, there are mercury-free LED replacement lamps available to replace all types of fluorescent lamps. Lamps are also available which are “universal” and can operate on a variety of ballasts and input power configurations. This approach to the design and marketing of the products removes barriers to upgrading to mercury-free LED lamps by enabling the end-users to continue to use the same luminaires, and simply change the lamp.
The first story of its kind we’ve ever reported. On September 9th, a freight company reached out to EdisonReport informing us that they are liquidating 13 containers of lighting and lighting-related equipment from a bankrupt company that was bound for two national big-box retailers in the U.S. Our coverage did assist the freight company and entrepreneurs in making a deal, and hopefully all the lighting equipment found a home and was not thrown away.
Honorable Mention: How the Lighting Industry Can Help the Children of Ukraine
While this story did not make the Top 10, we think it too important to not mention. Back in March, EdisonReport started a fundraiser in response to Russia’s aggressions against Ukraine. Supporting the families of Ukraine affected by the war, the lighting industry raised a total of $49,954.00, far surpassing the original goal of $5,000. It was great to see our industry come together to support a good cause, and we would like to thank all of those who donated and helped put the word out.
While there was one instance of COVID in the Top 10, it was nice to see this year’s list consist of more traditional stories, compared to the last couple years marred by COVID, UV-C, and supply chain issues. It’s been a great year for EdisonReport and the lighting industry as whole. We look forward to seeing what 2023 brings.