Discount Bulb Program Means Extra Fee for Delmarva Power Customers

SALISBURY, Md. - Delmarva Power customers should be prepared to see another monthly surcharge on their bills starting in February.

The money will pay for a discount program on energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use less energy than the standard counterparts.

The Maryland Public Service Commission already passed a plan to promote the bulbs. Now Delmarva Power is asking the utility officials to pass the customer fee.

The company is offering a discount on compact fluorescent bulbs at local Home Depot stores. In order to make up the difference for the price cut, customers will have to pay 6 cents each month for the next 5 years for every 1000 kilo-watts of power used, whether they use the bulbs or not.

Delmarva Power Spokesman Matt Likovich said an energy efficient light bulb saves about $42 in electricity over the lifetime of a bulb. Likovich also said the compact bulbs last 10 times longer than a standard bulb.

Likovich said the bulbs would make a significant difference for all power users, whether they use them or not.

"If every household in the United States would change one incandescent the amount of energy saved is equivalent to the amount of energy produced by a power plant in one year," he said.

The bulbs could also reduce energy costs in addition to helping the environment.

Likovich said, "If the suppliers of energy see a decrease in the demand for energy the price for energy is going to come down for energy in the future."

Some customers are worried how the surcharge will affect their present costs.

Jessica Elzey of Salisbury said, "Everything is going up in price it seems. Not everyone has extra money and it adds up in the end. Even if it's just cents it adds up, and electric bills are high enough as they are."

Shore Energy Director and Salisbury University Professor of Finance Danny Ervin said aside from the costs, the impact is questionable.

Ervin said light bulbs only make up 8 percent of the country's energy use.

"I'm not saying it's not going to help. It's just that this is a very small portion of the overall energy usage for the country," Ervin said.

Likovich expects members to pass the 6-cent surcharge by the end of January. Customers will be able to purchase the discount bulbs at additional stores in February. The bulbs are available at a discounted price for the next three years.