The great light bulb controversy has been officially postponed. FirstEnergy announced in a press release this evening that they will not be dispersing two energy efficient light bulbs and charging their customers $21 like it had previously planned in the coming weeks. The release states:

FirstEnergy Corp. today announced that it would postpone distribution of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to customers of its Ohio utilities -- Ohio Edison, The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison -- pending further discussions with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).

The program, scheduled to begin on October 12, 2009, was developed to comply with energy-efficiency requirements under the state's new energy law, Senate Bill 221. Under the law, investor-owned electric utilities must reduce electricity usage by 22.2 percent by 2025. A proposal for the CFL distribution program was submitted to the PUCO July 9, 2009, and approved by the Commission on September 23, 2009.