A new surcharge being assessed to Allegheny Power customers is sure to draw an icy reception from some customers.

Billed as a consumer-cost saving initiative, the utility company is mass-mailing 50,000 booklets to its customers in Allegany and Garrett counties outlining cost-saving measures that can be taken. To pay for the brochures and mailing, a $1.09 surcharge, already approved by the Maryland Public Safety Commission, is being applied to monthly bills.

The program is an outgrowth of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s EmPOWER Maryland initiative announced in July 2007 and designed to reduce energy consumption by 15 percent by 2015. To achieve that goal, the Maryland Energy Administration is encouraging residents to adopt the combination of energy savings that are most appropriate for their homes.

The brochures contain various rebate offers for purchases of energy-efficient equipment, including dishwashers, clothes washers, clothes dryers with moisture sensor, programmable thermostats, room air conditioners, central air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, heat pumps and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Recycling and other energy-related topics also are covered.

Last year, Allegheny Power came under fire for levying a 96-cent per month surcharge to cover the cost of energy-efficient lightbulbs it mailed to its customers, even though no one asked for the bulbs. A furor over the program forced the utility to drop the surcharge.

We don’t know if the new surcharge for brochures will bring the same response. But we do know that the new fee will not sit well with many Allegheny Power consumers.