Puget Sound Energy (PSE) of Bellevue, WA, which serves over a million customers of electricity in Washington state, has introduced an instant rebate for residential consumers purchasing LED replacement lamps. The rebate is PSE's first LED bulb rebate for residential customers.
The rebates are good for the purchase of a variety of Energy-Star-qualified LED lamps. Depending on the bulb type, after-rebate price varies between $15 and $50. Customers can purchase the lamps at participating retailers including Costco, Lowe’s and The Home Depot. PSE is also hosting an online survey for bulb purchasers at PSE.com/LEDsurvey, where participants will be entered in a drawing for one of five $100 pre-paid gift cards. The website also provides incentives for energy efficiency in the home.
In 2010, PSE was among 14 utilities and energy-efficiency organizations to partner with the US Department of Energy's Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition to field test energy-efficient LED lamps to replace the standard 60W incandescent bulb.
Philips Lighting North America, the L Prize winner of the 60W replacement bulb category, met the competition requirements including extensive field and laboratory assessment, stress testing, and a required lifetime of more than 25,000 hours. The Philips LED lamp is expected to arrive in stores as soon as early 2012.
Public utility rebates for LED products have been widely applied for street-lighting and parking-lot-lighting projects. The consumer LED replacement lamp market may well require rebate incentives until the cost of LED lamps can be reduced significantly. Indeed, rebate programs and even bulb “swaps” were common during the years when compact fluorescent bulbs first became available.
