Seeing the Light on Energy : Why would a utility company give away light bulbs?
The state Public Utilities Commission recently guided California’s four biggest private power companies back into energy conservation by letting them count as profits some of the power they saved.
But the law says the commission can’t tell municipal utilities what to do, so it was obviously on its own initiative that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power decided to give away energy-saving light bulbs. Talk about seeing the light.
The goals are the same--reducing the need to build new generating plants. Four of the biggest private utilities expect to spend $560 million over five years on conservation. That will save enough energy to eliminate the need for a new 300-megawatt power plant. DWP will spend $80 million a year on its own programs, among them dispensing bulbs that use about one-fourth as much power as standard bulbs.
Not entirely by coincidence, the Natural Resources Defense Council, which helped write the PUC’s conservation formula, helped the department find an Oregon consultant to help with its bulb deal.
DWP crews will start calling the utility’s 1.3 million customers shortly after the first of the year to promote the program. They plan to give between four and eight bulbs to each household, and even show up at houses and apartments to screw the bulbs in. The brightest bulb is 100 watts, which burns on only 27 watts of power. DWP says the bulbs will go in sockets that are used the most, not in closets and basements.
Promoting these bulbs has taken off in recent years. Southern California Edison Co. will soon give away its millionth low-energy bulb to low-income customers.
But there is a catch. Utilities probably cannot give bulbs away indefinitely, and even though the energy-savers last up to 10 times longer than standard bulbs, the initial cost runs between $8 and $10.
Retailers so far hesitate to stock bulbs costing that much more than others. Stores are the next hurdle, says NRDC. Based on its record so far, it will find a way.
