Clocks are about to spring forward. Why does California still use daylight saving time?

Daylight saving time begins this weekend, meaning clocks will move ahead one hour this Sunday. Unlike the fall back to standard time in November, the March reset might mean losing some sleep.

Here’s everything you need to know about the time change and why California still participates in the time switch.

When will clocks change?

Daylight saving time — when clocks get pushed forward by an hour so that darkness falls at a later time in spring and summer — begins Sunday, March 13. Clocks will “spring forward” to daylight savings time at 2 a.m. Standard time was in effect for 18 weeks.

When you’re coordinating Zoom calls across time zones, remember that you can go back to saying PDT, or Pacific Daylight Time, instead of PST, or Pacific Standard Time.

Why does daylight saving time exist?

The concept of daylight saving time goes way back. Benjamin Franklin was a big supporter in the 1700s. But the U.S. didn’t institute daylight saving time until 1918, when it was introduced as an energy saving measure during World War I.

The policy was unpopular, though, and it was repealed after the war over President Woodrow Wilson’s objections. Then, in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted a year-round daylight saving time, again to save energy to support the war effort.

Daylight saving time, which now takes up about eight months of the year, was made permanent with the 1966 Uniform Time Act. It has been expanded since then to encompass the longer time period.

Does daylight saving time actually save energy?

The theory is that if people spend more of their waking hours when the sun is up, they won’t need to use as much electricity. But it’s not clear that daylight saving time leads to any real conservation. Instead, any savings made by keeping lights off might be offset by changes in heating and cooling needs.

What daylight saving time really benefits is business. That extra hour of daylight is great for retailers and recreational industries like golf and tennis. An extra hour of daylight is an extra hour for people to spend money.

Didn’t California try to get rid of the time switch?

Yes, it did. In 2018, 60% of California voters supported Proposition 7, which would give lawmakers the power to end the switching of the clocks.

But Proposition 7 wasn’t enough on its own. Lawmakers still had to decide whether to adopt daylight saving time permanently, or whether to stay on standard time all year. Time ran out in the legislative session to decide what to do, so that’s why California is still observing the time change.

This year, the state legislature once again introduced a new bill on the issue, which would allow California to adopt daylight saving time permanently. This would eliminate the “fall back” reset in the fall.

Switching over to year-round daylight saving time requires congressional approval. A bill introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate called the Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent.

The two states that have done away with the time change — Arizona and Hawaii — are on permanent standard time. A multitude of states is looking at switching to daylight saving time permanently.