A plan by FirstEnergy, the parent company of Ohio Edison, to distribute energy-efficient light bulbs to customers backfired when it was learned that the recipients would not only have to pay for the bulbs, but also pay the utility for the electricity they wouldn't be using.
Ohio's governor sent a letter to regulators who pulled the plug on the program for now, or at least on the charges that caught consumers off guard.
FirstEnergy is now promising to work with the state's Public Service Commission to settle the dustup.
Total planned charges for unsuspecting customers for two light bulbs was $21.60, though it cost only $3.50 to buy and distribute them. To make up the cost plus lost electricity sales, FirstEnergy planned to charge customers using an average amount of electricity 60 cents a month for three years.
FirstEnergy says it will mail or hand deliver nearly 4 million bulbs over five weeks.
The light bulb distribution program was in response to a state mandate that requires utilities to reduce energy usage by 0.3 percent this year and 22.2 percent by 2025, FirstEnergy said.
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