A PPL Electric Utilities plan that offers money to motivate customers to save electricity won state approval Thursday.
The plan provides rebates, grants and giveaways to spur consumers and businesses to install energy-efficient equipment, get energy audits and take other steps.
"The majority of our programs will result in significant savings and quick payback," PPL president David G. DeCampli said in a prepared statement.
The four-year, $246 million plan approved by the state Public Utility Commission was unveiled by PPL in July.
The firm hopes the plan will help cut electric consumption in its territory as required by the state's Act 129, signed by Gov. Ed Rendell last October.
The incentives will be funded by a rate increase of about $2 a month for the average residential customer.
PPL expects to begin offering some of these programs by year-end and to roll out the rest in early 2010.
That will coincide with its previously announced rate hike of 29.7 percent set for year-end, when caps on its rates expire.
PPL intends to promote the initiatives in mailings to customers, in advertisements and on its Web site.
Among the options will be:
• Rebates for buying and installing energy-efficient equipment such as lighting, appliances and heating and cooling systems.
For instance, there are $50 rebates for programmable thermostats, $70 rebates for washers, $150 to $300 rebates for central air conditioning systems and $250 to $400 rebates for heat pumps.
• Rebates of $35 for recycling older, inefficient refrigerators, freezers and window air conditioners.
• Grants of up to $2,000 for using energy-efficient systems in new homes.
• Rebates and incentives for home-energy audits, pegged to the number of audit recommendations that are implemented, and for weatherization.
• Discounted and free compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• Incentives for cutting use during peak hours or installing controls on appliances that will let PPL cut their use during peak hours.
• Rebates for commercial customers who have heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems "tuned up" and made more efficient.
"There will be something for every class of customers," PPL spokesman Ryan Hill said.
Still pending before the PUC is a related PPL proposal to give consumers and some businesses a discount for using power at off-peak times.
Act 129 requires electric utilities to reduce their customers' annual electric consumption by 1 percent by mid 2011 and by 3 percent by mid 2013.
It also calls for a 4.5 percent cut in peak demand by mid 2013.