A Texas Statewide Residential Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Program is in the development stages and should commence before summer.  The program, which is sponsored by nine Texas investor-owned utilities, aims to lower the energy consumption of the sponsor utilities’ customers and transform the residential lighting market in Texas by making the compact fluorescent light bulb the first choice in lighting for residents across the state.  CFLs use as little as 25% of the electricity that conventional incandescent light bulbs do and some can last up to 10 times as long.  These two factors combine to make the CFL not only the greener residential lighting choice, but also the more cost-effective one, despite the CFL’s greater cost per bulb. 

Many Texas residents have realized this and have made the switch despite the up-front costs.  In fact, Texas has been reported by Wal-Mart as their top-selling state for CFLs and by the EPA as the top-selling state for ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs among six national and regional retailers.  CFLs have even been named the “state light bulb of Texas” by the mayors of 5 major Texas cities.  Not everyone has been convinced or even informed, however, which is why this program will provide public education and monetary incentives to help customers overcome the hesitance associated with making the change by making them aware of the benefits of CFLs and making the bulbs available at prices comparable to the incandescent bulbs that they replace.

Frontier Associates, who will manage the implementation of the program,
will review proposals from consulting firms around the country and decide on
one to implement the program by early March.  The details will then be
planned and the program should roll out by summer.  The utilities sponsoring this program are the AEP Companies {Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), Texas Central Company (TCC), and Texas North Company (TNC), CenterPoint Energy, Entergy Texas, El Paso Electric (EPE), Oncor Electric Delivery, Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP), and Xcel Energy.