We shall see.

over 7 bucks for one bulb??? gee, you can buy 4 at wal mart for that price. sounds like First Energy is ripping someone off.... US

I already use them and have no need to purchase more.....or be forced to purchase more. What the heII is this, Nazi Germany?

Either Nazi Germany or Communist Russia. A lot of Ohioans voted in a President who believes in Socialism.

I have these bulbs in every light in my house. First Energy has NO RIGHT telling me what I am going to pay for! This is crazy...What's next the gas company dropping off a gas dryer to replace the electric one, then sending me the bill! I thought I lived in the U.S.A. boy it sure doesn't feel like it! What has happened to freedom of choice!

If they force me to pay for bulbs I do not want or need, I will organize a bulb smashing event to take place in front of First Energy headquarters. The internet can be a powerful organizer.

This is laughably crazy. What in the world???

Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Electric,owned by the residents, has been giving bulbs away for decades.You pick the bubls up at city hall when you pay your utility bill.You have several size and style bulbs to choose from,including compact fluorescents.Falls residents pay thirty-five percent less for electricty and they get so many free bulbs per year.

Wait until the government gets involved with your health care

It already is gene, its called health insurance, which lobby's congress to pass certain mandates.

If your referring to Obama, he simply wants a government option health care plan to be offered to the people who have no other source of insurance. You would still have your public options plus a government option. This could force health insurance companies to lower their rates.

See what the environuts have done for us? Now we have corporate giants trying to scam us in the name of the enviro god. Pathetic.

JohnBoy's confused... the "public option" IS the "government option."

"This could force health insurance companies to lower their rates."

...this is a BLATANT LIE. If they wanted to introduce competition to "lower rates," all they need to do is let insurance companies compete across state lines. Like car insurance. It's a common sense step that they won't do. Nonsensical, just like all the elements of this story. The government as competition is a joke. They would crush private insurance companies like a lion vs a kitten. It's not about competition or lowering rates, it's about the government having control over you. Just as they want to dictate what type of bulbs you use and your energy consumption.

"Simply."

When Ohio Edison "gives" something away . . . . . they want something back. Sometimes the something back comes before the something given . . . e.g. all of the street improvements by the City of Akron at their new building on White Pond Drive . . . . . special turn-in lanes to their property, traffic signals, landscaping, etc . . . . . . then First Energy forks over $2mil to the city. Ohio Edison is not a philanthropic organization.

rmk/akron

How is that a lie? A governemnt option could force insurance companies to lower their rates. The government option is for people who cannot afford or have access to private insurance company coverage. No one will be forced to use the governemnt option....you can still pay ridiculous rates to whatever company you choose.

I get 5-6 phone books a year. Don't tell me they dont cost me anything. I don't need that many books but either way all the rate increases are paying for them.

@John Boy

Ask yourself…

Will whatever health care bill is produced by Congress increase the deficit? “Of course.”

Will it mean tax increases? “Of course.”

Will it mean new fees or fines? “Probably.”

Can I afford it right now? “No, I’m already getting clobbered.”

Will it make the marketplace freer and better? “Probably not.”

Is our health care system in crisis? “Yeah, it has been for years.”

Is it the most pressing crisis right now? “No, the economy is.”

Will a health-care bill improve the economy? “I doubt it.”

This is one of the craziest things to come along in a while. Many consumers already use these light bulbs and purchase them for themselves. How is it that the state of Ohio and the PUCO have allowed a for profit company to sell you something without your permission, and charge you a price that is 2-3 times more than the going rate.

What a scam. Why should they be allowed to recoup the money for reduced energy use? So we encourage people to be more energy efficient, then make them pay the supplier money for reduced energy consumption. WTF?

I understand the mandate to reduce energy use, but I can't see how it is fair for the energy companies to rape the consumers like this. Isn't this the kind of thing the PUCO should be protecting us from? Instead they ok the plan without knowing what the customer will be charged.

PS John Boy & Gene, this is not a discussion of health care, try to stay on topic.

I'm going to Solar panels in the next 5-10 years. Then FirstEnergy will have to pay me.

Gee, wouldn't be easier and more profitable for First Energy to place a surcharge on some customer's bills for using what they consider to be too much electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and another surcharge on those customer's bills who don't use enough?

I've been using compact fluorescent bulbs in every socket for over three years. A TV station reported that the three year charge is for the cost of the bulbs AND the RECOVERY OF LOST INCOME DUE TO THE CONSUMPTION REDUCTION! So basically, they get to charge you for the energy that you save! I urge all to write or E-mail their state Reps & Senators, also PUCO. It should be illegal for a utility to 'fine' people for being energy efficient. Since there will be NO additional energy savings, in my home, I should not have to pay a price,or fine, for money that FirstEnergy might lose from others.

@CapoConspirator: "Either Nazi Germany or Communist Russia. A lot of Ohioans voted in a President who believes in Socialism."

About as irrelevant as you can get.

This is NOT about Obama. This IS about First Energy's greedy and overzealous attempt to comply with the start of the energy savings program they are forced to initiate this year. And, PUCO's passive stance on how they would comply. Only after much backlash did PUCO respond.

Remember. Today's PUCO bureaucrat becomes tomorrow's First Energy statehouse lobbyist.

My apologies if this posts more than once. It seems to keep deleting my post, which means eventually it will probably duplicate it since that’s always logical.

The problem with writing State Reps is that the State Reps are the ones mandating a reduction in energy consumption and then forcing companies like First Energy to force customers to reduce energy consumption. Where is the sense in that? It’s not in First Energy’s best interests to reduce energy consumption anymore than Giant Eagle wants you to eat less.

It’s in consumers best interests to consume less and therefore have less to pay, and therefore should be left to consumers to decide how much they want to reduce their energy consumption if at all. This is what one gets for allowing the government to tell us we have to reduce our energy consumption. Next thing you know they’ll tell us how many miles we’re allowed to drive in our cars each year.

Tell the government to get off our backs and give us back our freedom of choice.

This is a communist act. Also B___S___.
Would the next step be to drop off a refrigerator at my door, claiming it will reduce energy consumption, and then bill be three times the price in my electric bill.
We need to organize a protest at the First Energy jack--s who came up with this idea.
We cannot allow First energy to carry out this scam.

By my calculations First Energy is making 39 million off this SCAM.
Their Customers are paying roughly 40 Million for these "free" light bulbs, and ther other million first energy has spent on cheap chinese light bulbs.

I'd like to contact the chairman of PUCO who approved this.
on artical states "ALAN R SCHRIBER" is the chairman.
Another older PUCO online artical states "ALAN R SCHRIBER of Cincinnati has been re-apointed..."

So a quick search of whitepages.com gives his home phone number if that's the correct "ALAN R SCHRIBER" which I believe it is.

Does anyone know what if it's legal for me to call him at the number listed and ask why he's decide that i'm forced to pay $21.00 for 2 cheap chinese lightbulbs?

Remember...these are the same folks who brought us the great blackout a few years back....

$7.15 A YEAR = $21.45 FOR A $3.50 LIGHT BULB MADE IN CHINA. SOUNDS GREEDY TO ME. GLAD I LIVE IN CUYAHOGA FALLS AND USE THE BULBS THE CITY HAD BEEN MAKING AVAILABLE FOR YEARS FOR FREE.

Sorry about the all caps. Use all caps here at work.

@the H4MMER - I agree with you. I'm not sure how the energy suppliers are supose to make the consumer use less electric. While the light bulb program is a joke, Ohio should madate that all electrical equipment sold in it's boundries be compliant to some energy conservation standard.

Seriously, the current mandate is like telling the water company to make us all drink less water.

This defiance; of demands; of Natural Law: what Mother Nature, God, or Whatever Power decreed to be the reality of the real world, God, democracy, capitalism, the US Constitution, and free, fair, and affordable commerce.
Demanding every corporation, farmer, business, outsourcer sweatshop, and nonprofit, tax-exempt, organization and Church; markets the cost; in the wholesale and retail price of his or her product and service; Of every workers, consumers, and taxpayers; paying for light bulbs; and living (including pension and health care); enabling parents to love, nurse, nurture, discipline, protect, and provide for every child (job) they conceive; and fund schools, infrastructure, national security, government services, and etc.; with money derived from wages or independent business profit!

Don't blame the electric company, blame the legislature. They are the ones who passed a law that according to the article allows "the utility to recoup the cost of the bulbs, distributing them and the difference in the loss of energy usage to the company." It's not just the cost of the bulbs they are entitled to recover, it's their lost profits and the cost of distributing them.

Get real, do you think that any business wants to do something like this. It isn't their idea.

As I said, if they wanted to lower rates via competition, allow insurance companies to compete with each other across state lines. If they REALLY wanted competition, why wouldn't they do this? If they aren't lying and really want what they say - first take this obvious first step.

Another way they're going to make more choose the government option is to tax/fine private employers -- if they don't use the public option -- more than it would cost to just use the gov insurance. As previously stated, it wouldn't be competition, they would financially squeeze most to take the gov option through legislation/colossal penalties.

80 - 85% of legal Americans are happy with their coverage. They're wanting to tear down and gamble rebuilding 17% of the US economy during an "economic crisis." Why not just provide something for the 15 - 20% that aren't happy? Answer: because it's about control, not what they claim. Let insurance companies compete across states to lower rates, provide vouchers or another system for those who aren't covered and don't have massive increases in taxes for everyone to pay for others' insurance. These are the simplest and easiest steps to take. However, when you look into what they're trying to do, obamacare is as absurd as this light bulb plan. This is why he so tried to pass it through, before the public could really learn what he was trying to do.

Three more tidbits... they voted down amendments that would one, require any representative that voted for a bill with a public option to use it for them and their family. If it's so wonderful, why not use it?

Two, they also voted down that you'd be require to show residential proof before receiving gov insurance. So illegals WILL be covered. Taxing 100% of legal Americans to pay for illegals' insurance and 15 - 20% of the population not happy with their coverage. Redistribution of wealth, period.

Three, they want it illegal not to have health insurance. Why? So they can have control over all and cannot fund it without.

$hnit! I'm having a hard enough time keeping what lights that I DO own, ON.
I want to be a WHISTLEBLOWER, and sue the britches off of the bobble heads that thought up this enlightening idea.
If I am one of the unfortunate Ohioans that receive these lightbulbs, I WILL put them on a billboard in my front yard, and shine a generic light on the billboard for ALL to see.
You get what you pay for?
I DID NOT ask for this type of FRAUD.
This needs to be shown to the national media.
I'm NOT getting the, Kool-aid flu shot either.
Achoo!

As a senior home owner with a (3) bedroom ranch, attached garage and basement I currently have 27 of the new bulbs in service and 9 for replacement. Why on earth did it take a public out cry for the lofty PUCO to take notice.

Dear PUCO and First Energy....please send a return address along with the bulbs. I've already bought General Electric bulbs at Target. This act is like stealing my account number, charging my credit card for something I didn't purchase, and is considered theft and I think there is jail time. I don't want your bulbs....

Sincerely....Akronites!

You'll have to pay for the postage. Probably extra 'cause they're fragile. It may even be against the law to mail something so dangerous.

Global warming is real ans caused by humans

Yep

Its caused by the heated fury fighting these
dictators.