Cash for Clunkers II: Rebates for energy-saving appliances (St Petersburg Times)

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Florida sweetens deal for clunker appliances
By MARK ALBRIGHT
St. Petersburg Times

State officials have sweetened Florida's upcoming energy-efficient appliance rebate program with a $75 bonus to assure buyers retire the old energy hogs they are replacing.
Dubbed ``cash for clunkers'' for major appliances, the rebates bankrolled by last year's federal economic stimulus program will pay consumers 20 percent discounts on six types of Energy Star-rated appliances.

Florida retailers will offer the rebates April 16-25.

``We are trying to encourage energy efficiency, water conservation and recycling,'' said Brenda Buchan, the program coordinator, who works for the governor's Energy Office. ``So the bonus is designed to ensure people properly dispose of their old appliances rather than move that old refrigerator into the garage.''

Today's refrigerators are about five times as energy efficient as their 15-year-old ancestors.

The recycling bonus addresses issues raised by what had been a wary appliance industry. It substantially increases the savings of what had been a $100 discount on a $500 appliance. To get the additional $75, consumers will have to supply a receipt from a store or certified disposal facility or landfill. Retailers have to rejigger their delivery services, which now destroy four out of five appliances they pick up. The rest are resold as used machines, so they do not qualify for the recycling bonus.

``I don't see any problem adding this sort of receipt to delivery,'' said Al Greco , owner of Apsco Appliance Centers in Largo.

The $300 million rebate program already is under way in eight other states, but Florida is waiting until the week of Earth Day.

The state is negotiating with mail-in rebate contractors (American Express and Ohana Cos.) that submitted low bids to process the paperwork for an estimated 66,0000 rebates.

State officials hope buyers won't have to wait as long for their money as some store rebate programs.

The federal stimulus program, which is providing the cash to back what had been an unfunded 2005 Energy Star purchase incentive program, was unveiled last summer to help ease reluctant consumers into buying mode and revive a stagnant appliance industry.
The business suffered because of the housing slump and a credit meltdown that sidelined big-ticket home improvements.

Appliance manufacturers said thanks for the help, but they needed time to ramp up production without disrupting the market. So the government delayed the program until this year.

Last summer, appliance retailers feared news of rebates coming (with no firm date or rules for implementing the program yet established) would kill whatever demand they had while undermining discounts already planned for the holidays.

After the government backed off, major appliance sales volume jumped 5.5 percent nationally in the fourth quarter, according to NPD Group.

Much of the credit went to planned discounts and limited inventory that drew big Black Friday crowds.