Does anyone else feel like we were shafted by the PSC and Allegheny Energy over this one?

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=display...amp;format=html

Usually if you are sent something in the US Mail you did not order you cannot be charged for it. Seems AE circumvented that.

absolutely. shafted big time! i imagine that more than one household wrote "return to sender" on the package and dropped it in the nearest blue mailbox.

But you'd still be charged anyway!

You can complain here:

https://www.alleghenypower.com/CSC/Services/custsvcform.asp

Or here...

1-800-Allegheny (1-800-255-3443)

This is total BS!!!!!!

They said the Blubs were free right from the start so I thought
Now they want to charge customers for it now.

Seem like Allegheny has their head up their butt.


“Each bulb will save $1 a month for each customer and should last approximately seven years,” Meyers said.

"Customers are being charged 96 cents on their monthly bills for one year."

Since customers have to pay for them now. First year savings .48 cents. Whoopie

Save $72 for the remanding 6 years of use. Well by the time they jack the rates up you won't be saving that.


btw, I don't have Allegheny Power, I get my electric from the city.

Mr. Bruchey make sure the City of Hagerstown don't come up with a stupid ideal like this.
I don't need to light blubs, I been using these kinds ever since they came out.

At no time, did I ever think these bulbs were going to be "free".

But they did give us a discounted price on them... lmao!!!

Good point about the postal regulations, anything sent to you which you didn't order is considered without charge (unless it was mistakenly sent to you).

I wonder if there's a suit brewing here, either by the postal service, class action suit or whatever.

Heck, Allegheny will just say it's a surcharge not related to the bulbs.

We made the switch at least a year ago. Not only did they drop our electricity costs, they last a lot longer then the old fashioned, inefficient incandescent bulbs. I just took the two bulbs they mailed us and put them on the shelf next to the box of them that is already sitting there.

I wonder what blind people thought when they got the bulbs.

i just hope other companys dont see how well this worked for the electric company sending out things to people that didnt order anything and charge them for it, we will be getting all kinds of things in the mail, with a bill attached.

I wonder how blind people would be able to completely clean up after dropping one of the bulbs....

We've started using fluorescent bulbs, and they do save energy. My main concern with them is the fact that there's no where within at least a 50-mile radius that takes them for recycling. I wish Allegheny Energy would address this concern.

Fluorescent bulbs are okay in some applications, not so good in others. I got 4 fluros as floodlight bulbs and they are slow to respond to the “on” signal and very dim when cold. Even the 3-way I have in by living room is dim the first few minutes.

I just love how one of the environmentalists’ great hopes for energy savings (fluroscent bulbs) are at the same time a toxic hazard when broken. Oops, broke a bulb, let’s evacuate for 4 hours…

So, what next, they start telling people they need to be forced to get new energy-efficient water heaters? Where does the government stop in forcing us to buy energy efficient stuff, like they did here?

Breaking one CFL bulb is not an enviormental disaster and really not much of a danger with some minor precautions. I think the rewards outweigh the risks.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

I don't think lava lamps will work without an incandescent bulb, or an Easy-Bake Oven, for that matter! And (supposedly) you can't use them on a dimmer switch - they have a strobing affect. I hope they keep incandescents around for these applications where fluorescents just will not work.

Yeah, heterosexual God forbid we all be a little more energy efficient.

The reason you need an incandescent bulb for an Easy-Bake Oven is because an incandescent bulb is so inefficient and produces a massive about of heat as a byproduct.

yes, i know, i understood that. i made more than a few little cakes (and Shrinky-Dinks) in my time. but that doesn't change the fact that CFL's won't work in them. i guess they just won't manufacture them anymore. or lava lamps. or they'll have to be redesigned.

i do understand the benefits of CFLs, energy-wise, but i think that there should always be some alternative to them for specific applications. i read today where someone brought up the fact that some table lamps have the shades attached to them, and CFLs won't fit.

Did anybody notice the charge before today?

At least they're not charging interest.

Don't forget the added, unintended carbon emission reductions.
Skin cancer & migraines, Yay!

So, smart azz, you'd be okay with being forced to pay $300 for a new more energy efficient water heater? And then maybe a new dryer, or fridge? That'd be okay with you, huh, cuz it is more energy efficient???

Yes.

Then again, I would have already replaced the inefficient water heater with one that was energy efficient. That's why I switched to the newer energy efficient bulbs over a year ago. Being energy inefficient ain't cool. I don't know if you noticed, but relying on the Middle East to feed our dependence on oil and natural gas kind of sucks.

I hope you never get elected to anything.

X2

i got no "free" bulbs....

You guys would be sooooooooo lucky to have me as your elected representative.

If you can still find one.

I bet. Just give you my checkbook and you'd take care of everything

Checkbook? What is this, 1987? Might as well trade beaver pelts. I can't remember the last time I wrote a check like people did back in olden times.

I wrote a check just this morning. When I bought my new butter churn.

I like the old bulbs and I'll continue to use them.

First they come after your light bulbs, then it's your thermostat.
Also, Idiot, good luck with that. Thanks to the energy bill just signed into law, the "old" bulbs won't be available after 2014. Energy law pulls plug on Edison's lightbulb. And before anyone blames the gov't (which I would normally be first to do) Sylvania and Phillips pushed hard for this one as the traditional 60 watt incandescent bulb makes almost no profit for them anymore.

I predict massive runs on incandescents in 2013. Trampling, hair pulling, housewife vs. housewife, the whole shebang. Then, cases of incandescents for sale on ebay at exorbitant prices once they're no longer manufactured.

Most of my bulbs are on dimmers, and with most CF's you can't use dimmers. Or it takes a special type dimmer?

Thanks for the heads up. I'll start stocking up on them now.

I see nothing shocking or inaccurate about Bentcorner's statement. Finding ways to use less energy is just being responsible.

Oh, and enjoy the lovely 70 degree weather on this fine January day.

And don't forget to Thank Al Gore for Inventing....er...highlighting Global Warming.

Lowe's now carries dimmable compact fluorescents. If you really want a selection, we've ordered from 1000bulbs.com. CF's have come a long way in the past year or two.

Of course, even CF's aren't long for this world. Within a few years we'll start seeing LED based bulbs entering the consumer market. 97% efficient, much smaller, and a life span of hundreds of thousands of hours. They're already out there, just a little pricey at the moment.

Thanks Al, I never would have noticed if you hadn't brought it up.


Anyway, I hope it continues.

I'm sure if you pray hard enough Patton, you can make him....err...it all go away.

I'm setting aside some bucks to switch all my Xmas lights to LEDs next holiday season. I had one string this year and was very impressed.

Not at all, why would I want him...er it, to go away?

That's true. I'm sure you think all democrats are slated for hell anyway.

I'm really impressed with the way they have been able to use LED technology to replace incandescent bulbs. It's not like LED's are new. It's old technology.

Absolutely not. Thanks for trying to pervert my words though.

Everyone has a shot at redemption.

It's funny how long so much of our "new technology" has been around. I got to do some work in a patent infringement case involving CD's. The purported inventor of the CD, who filed a patent and had a working CD in the early 1960's, wanted a royalty payment for every CD ever produced. CD's in the 1960's?

Up until recently though, weren't LED's not as bright to even consider them for general lighting?

Those LED flashlights are way better than the regular bulbs or even halogen.

Not trying to pervert your words. Just trying to understand your disdain for Al Gore and what he's trying to accomplish. Unless of course you can explain how Bush has done a better job of making strides to improve the environment. Now THAT is funny!

When I was in the Air Force and stationed at Griffiss AFB, we were told that CD's were invented there by the Air Force's Rome Laboratory. A couple of years ago I was going through a training class at NCR headquarters in Dayton, Ohio and they claim to have invented the CD.

I just disagree with Al's assertion (And Democrats in general) that the government should fix this. The government did not cause this, private industry did, have them fix it.

And they're going to do this without intervention and regulation?

Wouldn't the government have to step in, in order to enforce the industries to clean up their mess? How can the government be 100% hands off?

Not 100% hands off, but then again, not 100% regulation. We need a smaller government.