Back in December Philips announced the SlimStyle, the company’s take on a bulb that would finally bring its LED offerings below the $10 mark. The SlimStyle did just that — selling for $9.97 — without any of the subsidies that would be possible once the bulb received Energy Star certification. At this price it was a viable contender to the popular Cree LED bulb and consumer’s embraced its unique styling and clever design. Today Philips has news that will do even more to increase adoption of LEDs in general and the SlimStyle in particular: the bulb has been Energy Star certified and is getting a price drop.

Off the bat Philips will drop the price to $8.97, but that’s just the start. Energy Star approval opens the door to power company subsidies which are when the real price cuts come (at least as far as the end consumer is concerned). With utility rebates the SlimStyle will be sold for as low as $1.97 per bulb, making it highly affordable compared to what we’ve come to expect from today’s 60W-equivalent LED bulbs. (Update: Maine Efficiency is the utility that has committed to this pricing.)

Of course there is no promise that the SlimStyle will be that cheap — the price will be based on the subsidy provided by local utility companies, which will vary from area to area. On the whole we should start to see sub-$5 pricing on these bulbs with that number dropping to far less in some areas, particularly in the Northeast.

Philips has put up a map that shows which states have active rebate programs and which power companies are providing them. Each has a link to the utility’s site which explains their program and offers some details about what consumers can expect. If you don’t need that level of detail the easier thing to do will be to simply navigate to HomeDepot.com and search for the SlimStyle. This will tell you the local price for SlimStyles, after which you can swing by your closest store and pick a bunch up. Rebate pricing is normally limited to a certain quantity of bulbs over a given period of time, so you might want to pick up more than one.

Philips isn’t currently talking about which specific power companies will be offering rebates or how much th SlimStyle will be in each area, but the company did note that in Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Nevada, Washington, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Utah, pricing will be as low as $3.97.