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Lakeland Electric will continue to make good on customer rebates in the coming year, even if applications exceed its $817,986 budget.
But to make the energy-saving incentive program more sustainable, it is ending rebates for three types of appliances — clothes dryers, dishwashers and freezers. It’s also lowering the rates for four others — refrigerators, clothes washers, water heaters and heat pumps.
“We feel confident we’re going to be able to stay under the allocated budget and everyone that applies for a rebate will absolutely get a rebate,” Lakeland Electric Assistant General Manager Korey Bush told the city’s Utility Committee Friday morning.
Budget buster: Last year, Lakeland Electric changed how it administers its 51-year-old rebate program in response to public outcry. Customers, the mayor and commissioners complained that people were being denied rebates once funds budgeted for specific categories of appliances or energy-saving home improvements ran out.
The utility responded by lifting its caps and vowing to honor all qualifying applications. But that led to it issuing 7,492 rebates totaling $1.362 million — well over the budgeted sum of $800,000 and more than double the fiscal 2023 payouts of $640,400.
Hard choices: Bush said the utility looked at its list of incentives and weighed which provide the biggest energy savings to customers and the utility.
Pointing to a slide showing the changes, Bush said regular HVAC maintenance makes a big difference in energy use, so that rebate will remain at $100.
“Refrigerators are probably not the biggest energy saver, but one of our most popular items. So we decided to keep that, and we’re just going to reduce that amount (from $200) to $75,” he said.
Gone from the list, effective Oct. 1, are clothes dryers, dishwashers and freezers. Bush said they use fewer kilowatt hours than the other appliances and fewer people applied in those categories.
Lakeland Electric also lowered the rebate for Energy Star-certified clothes washers from $150 to $75, water heaters from $700 to $450, and heat pumps from $500 to $300.
The rebate program is funded by customers via a charge of $.50 every month, totaling $6 a year per customer.
Kevin Kayden, who lives in Bartow, just south of the County Road 540-A line, has complained at multiple City Commission meetings that he and others he knows did not get their rebates. He held a protest sign outside of City Hall and showed a self-produced, tongue-in-cheek video at the last meeting.
See the discussion here.
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I have received every rebate I applied for at Lakeland Electric. If you didn’t receive yours, you likely weren’t eligible or provided incorrect paperwork. The person who handles these rebates is very responsive, so the fault is likely your own. Seems there’s always at least one gadfly no matter what it is.