Streetlights
For Immediate Release - October 9, 2020
Longmeadow Completes Street Light Project
The Town of Longmeadow recently announced the completion of the street light purchase and conversion project. As a result of this effort the town will save over $4.8 million and 157 million kilowatt hours over the 20 project life.
The project was conceived more than 10 years ago but restarted in 2018 when the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities adopted a street light cost structure that, for the first time, allowed municipalities to take advantage of high efficiency lighting such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
Using funding approved at the May 2019 Annual Town meeting, with additional support from state, regional and utility grants, the project began when the street lights were purchased from Eversource in the fall of 2019. In spring, 2020, with project management by Tanko Lighting of San Francisco (a company that specializes in municipal lighting conversion) and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (the Boston area equivalent of the Pioneer Valley Planning Committee), Longmeadow began the process of specifying, purchasing and replacing all the street lights in town with high efficiency LED lighting. From June through August all 1424 streetlights in town were replaced with LED fixtures or internal electronics and emitters.
The project economics and energy savings impact of the project are summarized in the attached table. The cost savings ($201,914 in the first year) are net of bond, maintenance and lost tax revenue and increase after the project bond is repaid in year 10. These savings do not assume any increase in energy costs over the 20-year period of review. The high efficiency LED lighting results in energy savings from this project just shy of 70% per year.
The new streetlights carry a 5-year warranty. Any problems with street lights should be reported by calling the DPW office at 567-3400 or completing the street light problem report form that can be found on the town’s DPW web page. The Longmeadow project team members were Town Manager Lyn Simmons, Select Board member Mark Gold, DPW Director Mario Mazza and Purchasing Manager Chad Thompson. Residents seeking more information or a more detailed financial summary should contact the Select Board office.
For Immediate Release – March 26, 2020
ENERGY EFFICIENCY STREETLIGHT UPGRADE PROJECT COMMENCES IN LONGMEADOW
The Town of Longmeadow recently launched the streetlight conversion project, which will upgrade approximately 1,400 streetlights throughout the Town to high efficiency Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures.
The project is being managed on behalf of the Town by Tanko Lighting of San Francisco. The project began in August 2019, with an audit that identified the precise locations and characteristics of the Town’s existing streetlights. In December, 2019 the Town purchased the existing streetlights from Eversource, an action that eliminated $180,000 per year in rental charges. The conversion to LED fixtures is expected to save over $50,000 in electricity costs per year.
Not only will the conversion to LED lighting reduce the Town’s energy use, but it will also improve the color and quality of light throughout the Town – resulting in significant cost savings and increased public safety.
The project was funded by an appropriation of $870,000 at the May 2019 town meeting. These funds will pay for the purchase of the lights ($645,000) from Eversource and, supplemented by grants from the Commonwealth of Mass Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and Eversource Corporation. The town anticipates a net operational savings of $125,000 per year for the next 15 years (while the authorized borrowing is paid back) and an annual savings of over $200,000 per after bond payments end. Overall, the project will pay back the town’s investment in less than 7 years, while reducing the energy used to light our streets by 63%.
Over the next few months, contractors from Arden Engineering will be working throughout town to install the new LED lights. Their work will begin by replacing the traditional arching streetlights (called cobra head lights) and will conclude with the conversion of the internal components of our decorative fixtures. The changes will be apparent as the old sodium vapor and halogen-based lights are changed to modern LED fixtures. The conversion of our decorative fixtures will be less obvious as the fixtures will remain with only the internal electrical components (and bulb) converted to LEDs.
The new lights are designed to have less light scatter – to direct a greater percentage of the light they generate down to the ground, and not sideways or upward. Although residents will notice a change to the color of the light, the fixtures were selected to provide a lighting color pleasing to residents, avoiding the bright white color seen in some new car LED headlights.
Once the new LEDs are installed and any “burn-in” failures are addressed, the bulbs are guaranteed for 15-year life. Street light failures or other issues should be reported to the Longmeadow DPW (through their web page at http://www.longmeadow.org/1176/Streetlights) or by phone at 413-567-3400.
For comments or questions about the Arden Engineering installation work, please contact the Longmeadow DPW or the Select Board office at 413-565-4110.