FirstEnergy flip-flop: Light bulb program put on hold

AKRON -- FirstEnergy Corp. spokeswoman Ellen Raines told Channel 3 Reporter Paul Thomas early Thursday afternoon that, starting Monday, the company will proceed with its plan to start mailing two compact fluorescent light bulbs to its residential customers. Now the utility says it won't go forward Monday.

Two hours after Raines made her statement, FirstEnergy has now agreed to put the program on hold to address questions raised by the PUCO.

"Until we meet with PUCO and address their concerns, the program is postponed," said FirstEnergy spokesman Chris Eck.

There were concerns from Gov. Ted Strickland, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), state Sen. Tim Grendell (R-18) and hundreds of upset Northeast Ohioans.

"At this point, we have a commission-approved program and we have a deadline (reduction in system usage) by the end of this year," Raines told Thomas early Thursday afternoon. "And the way that we have designed to meet that deadline is through this program and it's intended to begin on Monday. So, our plan to begin distributing light bulbs at this point has not changed."

On Tuesday, FirstEnergy said its residential customers of Ohio Edison, the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison will receive two CFLs through a company program designed to reduce electricity usage.

WKYC-TV Wednesday reaction story

WKYC-TV Tuesday story

The bulbs, however, are not free and FirstEnergy will recoup its $21.60 total cost per residence over three years on the customers' electric bills.

"The $21 is not (just) for the light bulbs," said PUCO Chairman, Alan Schriber. "The light bulbs are $3.50 a piece, okay, delivered. So that's $7 dollars for two light bulbs. Whether that's a lot or a little, I don't know.

"The remainder, the over $14, was for the program expenses," said Schriber, "for other costs they might incur, whether it's educational, lost revenue, whatever it might have been. Where that number ($14) came from, I have no idea. It popped up (Wednesday) the same way it did to everyone else."

Yet a spokesman for FirstEnergy told Channel 3 News that their proposal to PUCO detailed "every number" of the program's cost.

FirstEnergy is distributing the 3.75 million bulbs to comply in part with an energy law enacted in Ohio last year. The law requires utilities to cut their customers' energy use by 22 percent by 2025.

The law also mandates that utilities use solar, wind turbines and other renewable energy sources.

Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Strickland asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to delay the start of the program.

In response to Strickland's request, the PUCO has "asked FirstEnergy to postpone deployment of its compact fluorescent light bulb program until the Commission can thoroughly assess the costs associated with this program."

In response to the PUCO Wednesday evening, FirstEnergy released a two-sentence statement:

"At the request of PUCO Chairman Alan Schriber, FirstEnergy has agreed to further discuss with the Commission its PUCO-approved program to provide compact fluorescent light bulbs to customers of its Ohio utilities - Ohio Edison, The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison."

The FirstEnergy statement concluded with: "We will work with the PUCO to respond to its questions and determine how best to proceed."

The commission had stated: "Although the PUCO allowed FirstEnergy to implement its program, we did not approve the charge that will appear on monthly bills as a result. Reports in the media place the cost to customers at sixty cents per month for three years, which equates to $21.60 over the life of the program."

"The PUCO has not approved these additional dollars nor have we received a request by the company to do so...Until the PUCO has specific details regarding the program costs, FirstEnergy should not deploy its compact fluorescent light bulb program," the commission concluded.

Strickland said the media articles about the program state that "the PUCO approved the program to supply customers with two CFLs at a cost of sixty cents a month over three years for a total cost of $21.60."

"Ohioans are confused and angry and are looking for answers. First, the bulb program has been thrust upon them without their approval or prior knowledge."

"In the meantime, I am asking you to postpone this program until these questions are answered."

Grendell said, "It is unconscionable that the (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio) approved this plan of FirstEnergy to exploit its customers by making them buy light bulbs they don't even want, at prices that aren't even competitive."

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) asked the Federal Trade Commission to conduct an investigation of the potentially unfair and anti-competitive forced sale of the light bulbs by FirstEnergy to their customers.

Kucinich also asked the FTC to examine the issue of FirstEnergy's plan to charge a fee for the energy that was not used by the consumer because they installed the light bulbs.

On Tuesday, Kucinich was the first to call for a review of FirstEnergy's plan to make its customers pay "for energy they don't use," Kucinich said, in a statement.