Department of Energy allowed light bulb manufacturer to skirt the rules in L Prize competition, documents suggest

The Department of Energy awarded lighting giant Philips the $10 million L Prize despite the fact that the winning energy-efficient bulb failed to meet several contest criteria requirements, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Philips raised eyebrows when it debuted the winning bulb with a $50 price tag. That is far beyond the $22 cost recommended by the department, which is now working with utility companies to cut back on the upfront cost through rebates. Department documents, however, cast doubt on whether the expensive LED bulb was even worthy of the prize. Contest rules outlined by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act required the winning L Prize bulb to shine at 900 lumens. A department report on 200 bulbs tested at two different facilities showed that nearly 70 bulbs failed to meet that standard, including more than 60 percent of the bulbs tested at one of the labs. Contest rules mandated that an entrant that failed to meet basic standards would be “terminated” and forced to return to square one of the competition. A House Appropriations Committee report issued in June slammed the department for announcing the $10 million prize without prior approval from Congress. “The Committee strongly opposes the Department announcing funding opportunities when those funds have not yet been made available by Congress,” the report said. “In the case of the L Prize, the Department risks damaging its credibility.” The warning was enough to worry higher-ups at Philips, which spent nearly $1.8 million lobbying Congress to fund the program. The bulb’s $50 price tag also produced sticker shock among industry insiders. It is about double the cost of existing LED bulbs and about fifty times higher than the 60-watt incandescent bulb it was designed to replace...more