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07/28/2015 04:30 PMThe town of Madison has recently purchased 652 streetlights from Eversource, formerly Connecticut Light & Power, in an effort to cut costs and become more energy efficient.
Of the $98,845 purchase, Madison First Selectman Fillmore McPherson stated in a press release that there is a clear economic benefit to owning the streetlights.
“You might ask why would we do this? The straightforward answer is that we will save $35,000 per year, so that the project pays for itself in less than three years. We will take that deal anytime,” he said.
The town had previously rented the streetlights from Eversource through annual payments, but now stands to save up to 30 percent in maintenance costs by owning and maintaining the lights itself. Additionally, McPherson noted there will be more savings realized once all the existing fixtures are switched to LED fixtures.
“Buying the lights is just Phase 1,” he said. “Phase 2 will take place over several months as we replace the fixtures. The new LEDs will help us reduce our footprint and help keep maintenance costs down for our residents.”
With the streetlights officially under town ownership as of July 13, Phase II of the project will soon be underway. The old lights will be replaced with energy efficient LED (light emitting diode) fixtures. According to Woodie Weiss, the town’s Energy and Efficiency Committee chairman, the new fixtures will reduce the demand on the electric grid and cut maintenance costs.
“LED fixtures are also much more reliable, so many fewer fixtures will fail. Many LED streetlight fixtures now have 10 year warranties,” Weiss explained.
Madison isn’t the first town to make the switch, with cities such as Stamford and New Haven recently upgrading to LED fixtures, but Weiss says the streetlights are just a small part of the towns plan to become more energy efficient.
Polson Middle School and Daniel Hand High School will both receive photovoltaic panel (solar) systems in the near future to supply electricity to the schools. The energy usage in the schools is also being reduced.
“Madison has also replaced several thousand T8 fluorescent bulbs with LEDs in schools and is constantly adding upgrading more,” Weiss said.
McPherson assures residents there will be no major disturbances as the transition is made.
“Residents might see a few more trucks when the lights are first changed out,” he said, “But after that, LEDs last a lot longer so there will be fewer burned out bulbs and less maintenance trucks out at any given time.”
Weiss agreed that the new fixtures will be a nice upgrade for Madison residents.
“I think residents will be very pleased by the quality of the new lighting, which has a more natural look than the very orange-looking light the old fixtures provide,” he said, adding that LED fixtures also greatly reduce uplight (light shining skyward) and backlight (light shining behind the fixture), which means less wated energy and clearer night skies. “These improvements will be significant and very noticeable.”
Under the new ownership, any problems, such as inoperable lights, should now be reported to the Public Works Department at 203-245-5611.