Dim bulbs at FirstEnergy

11/2/2009

WHAT in the world were they thinking at FirstEnergy?

Toledo Edison's parent company, under a state mandate to reduce energy consumption, was widely ridiculed when it proposed sending each residential customer two energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, then charging them $21.60 - more than four times retail value - so the company wouldn't lose revenue when less electricity was used.

After an intense outcry from confused customers, and a reprimand by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the company has now decided the program will be voluntary.

Good luck with that. From the letters we've received, FirstEnergy has alienated a lot of the people it serves. No matter how it's spun, this was a dim idea.

It's too bad an effort to promote a laudable goal - saving energy - was undermined by this extraordinarily ill-conceived scheme.