City moving toward converting streetlights to LED

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Cleveland is taking steps to become one of a few Ohio cities to convert its streetlights to LED fixtures capable of reporting burnouts and other issues.

The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reported recently that limited tariffs have prevented municipalities from switching to LED fixtures, which are brighter than conventional lighting and use significantly less power.

Streetlights are not currently metered and cities pay a fixed price based on wattage and an estimate that they burn about 4,200 hours per year.

Cleveland Public Power wants to install smart controls in every LED fixture capable of metering the power, ending the fixed pricing model. Streetlights cost the city about $12 million a year.

James Ferguson, chief of street lighting at CPP, told City Council’s Utility Committee the controls are similar to applications people download to their smartphones, and that the streetlights could also be outfitted to measure snow fall detect the number of people or vehicles in a neighborhood, detect pollutants, and report the sound of gunfire.

The Public Utilities Department is seeking approval to spend up to $300,000 to hire an outside consulting company. The consultants would take stock of the effectiveness of around 67,000 streetlights on every street and evaluate how many LED lights the city would need. Ferguson said the survey and analysis would take about 90 days.

“There are several manufacturers that we are looking at that use a savings-based financing model,” he explained. He said the $12 million that the General Fund pays each year would stay the same.

“Based on the savings after the first year, all of the savings from the reduced maintenance and reduced consumption is going to be directly paid back, or used to pay back for the equipment and the installation,” he said.