The intention was good: Maryland power companies would help customers save electricity by providing discounted or free energy-efficient light bulbs. But consumers have discovered they’re paying for the program – whether they use it or not – with a surcharge on every month’s utility bills. And only a few stores offer the discount, which means inconvenience – if the consumer bothers to try to find the bulbs at all. Even the U.S. Postal Service has complained. Post offices in Western Maryland balked when Allegheny Power mailed two compact fluorescent light bulbs to each of its 220,000 Maryland customers – in packages too large for some post offices to handle. Allegheny ratepayers paid for the bulbs through a mandatory 96 cent monthly surcharge on their bills. Other utilities, including Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., are also tacking a small surcharge onto their customers’ bills but working through retailers. BGE uses the money raised to reimburse a handful of retailers, such as Home Depot and Costco, that agree to sell the bulbs at a discount. ‘Why should we all pay for a discount we may not be able to use because we can’t get there or we may […]