Yeah i was surprised to see this! I noticed a paper when i was inspecting the lamp in the ReStore (since all sales are final i didn't want to buy a junk lamp). Upon realizing it was NOS, i placed it back in its cradle, checked it out, and took it home.
Those 28W adapters are somewhat rare, they were probably really expensive, even the lamps themselves are $8+ ! Not to mention the ballast has an auto transformer to step up the voltage so its physically larger, i do have one of them tho
If the rebates are that much, the lamps must have been really expensive. I paid over $15 for my first CFL (GE Compax) in January 1990. But, I got what I paid for - that bulb lasted several decades. I've noticed the utility company rebate on $20+ LEDs nowadays is pretty insignificant...
The huge rebates is probably what made Narragansett Electric go belly up in the mid-to-late 90s. Now we have National Grid, a reliable company (except during a big storm, as the 100 year old telegraph poles can't witstand the winds holding up a couple dozen wires) but definetly one of the more greedy ones out there. They rip you off for everything and really don't do pole renewals as often as they should. They seem to repalce poles as they fail or as they show signs of failing rather than do preventative maintenance.
All electric companies do that. The rebates come from federal grants and aren't out of the electric company's pocket. So in a way the government is paying the electric company to try and get us to be more energy effecient.
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Now we have National Grid, a reliable company (except during a big storm, as the 100 year old telegraph poles can't witstand the winds holding up a couple dozen wires) but definetly one of the more greedy ones out there. They rip you off for everything and really don't do pole renewals as often as they should. They seem to repalce poles as they fail or as they show signs of failing rather than do preventative maintenance.