CFL power quality

Long-term (assuming that CFL bulbs become a substantial percentage of the load on our power grid) the cheap power supplies that are built in most compact fluorescent bulbs will create power quality problems. See this article for some details.

While I agree that it's a problem, having designed power supplies like them, I would assert that it's already been a problem historically, and perhaps is presently, too. The harmonic content generated when a rectifier sits directly on the AC power line, connected to capacitors on the DC side, is pretty nasty. Perhaps counter-intuitively for those of you with an electronics background, the noise becomes worse if you use more capacitance after the rectifier. Think of it this way: a larger capacitor doesn't droop as much between power cycles, so the recharge occurs over a smaller piece of the power line cycle, making a shorter (but higher-amplitude) spike of current. During the remaining power cycle, little or no current is drawn.

While this doesn't represent the traditional inductive or capacitive load (a simple phase lead or lag of current) it's a power quality problem. Capacitor banks on the utility distribution lines will not solve the problem. In the end, the power supplies at the end of the service line must be improved.

As an example of this problem, see this image below of the AC waveform at my house. Compared to a pure sine wave, the peak is significantly clipped. I believe it's due to non-power-factor-corrected power supplies that are in use throughout my neighborhood (and I think the same is true of most parts of the power grid).