New streetlights in a Michigan city will improve efficiency and resident safety.
DTE Energy, a utility based in Detroit, has started a project that involves retrofitting old streetlights in Michigan communities to make them more reliable and energy efficient.
The $4 million capital investment program will retrofit 150 streetlights with energy efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Currently, mercury-vapor lamps are lighting the streets. Part of the project includes an approximately one-mile stretch of streetlights in Trenton, Michigan on Fort Street. The LED lights will help lower energy costs and provide a quick return on investment, the News-Herald reported.
In order to minimize the impact on the community during the upgrade process, the streetlights will be restored as soon as the retrofits are complete. Streetlight circuits will be shut off during the project.
The utility hopes the problem of widespread streetlight outages will be reduced as a result of the more modern lighting technology. The News-Herald said a parallel circuit will accompany the new LEDs in order to assist in solving the outage problem.
Pennsylvania city planning commission considers streetlight upgrade
A wave effect of streetlight upgrades is occurring in cities throughout the country. Members from the city planning commission in Shamokin, Pennsylvania are considering the benefits of a streetlight upgrade in the city’s downtown.
Shamokin is also experiencing lighting outages due to the older system currently lighting the roads and sidewalks for residents. Some areas of the city are going completely dark at night as a result of the outages. Several businesses and residents in Shamokin are in favor of the new lighting installations and hope the project moves forward.
According to The News Item, if the installation is approved, 47 lamps and poles in Shamokin could be replaced by PPL Electric Utilities as early as this summer at no cost to the city.
The importance of rebuilding infrastructure was raised at a recent planning commission meeting as the city’s next chance to consider a lighting upgrade may not occur for at least 50 years, the News Item reported.
The article stated the installation may also encourage business owners in the downtown area of the city to make energy efficient lighting upgrades.
City officials considering a streetlight retrofit in order to promote energy efficiency and save on energy costs should contact the lighting specialists at Lumenistics.