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Westbrook Streetlights Could Go LED

Like other shoreline towns, Westbrook could soon move forward a plan to convert 512 of its streetlights from high-pressure sodium vapor lights to more energy efficient LED technology.

The Town Energy Committee last week finalized a Request for Proposal (RFP) that, if the Board of Selectmen agree, would ask qualified firms to submit proposals for the LED conversion. The RFP draft this week will be sent to Town officials for review.

Whether or not to approve the RFP and move forward with the bidding process will be a topic of discussion at the July 11 BOS meeting.

Currently the 512 streetlights are owned and maintained by Eversource. Before the Town can proceed with the LED conversion, it would first need to complete the purchase of the streetlights from Eversource. As more Towns buy their streetlights, fewer Towns in Eversource’s system are left to bear the fixed cost of the streetlight program’s overhead. As a result, the unit cost to buy Town streetlights from the utility is going up month by month as more and more Towns opt out of the Eversource system.

“Part of the RFP is to have the winning bidder include an audit of the Town’s existing streetlights and then compare it to Eversource’s [listed] inventory,” said Bob Fish, the Energy Committee lead on the streetlight project.

Based on that audit, the Town will confirm the exact location and number of streetlights the Town wants to buy. Eversource would then set the final price for streetlight purchase, based on that information.

Not included in the proposed LED conversion plan are 113 Town streetlights which are decorative lights or floodlights. Bill Fish of the Energy Committee said the RFP also asks that bidders supply sample LED bulbs for decorative lights, should the Town decide to convert those too at a later date.

At the June 22 BOS meeting, Selectman John Hall asked that Bob Fish contact Towns that are ahead in the conversion process to get their assessment of the supplier they chose and to report back to the Selectmen with the information.

The Town of Madison has nearly completed conversion of its streetlights. The Town of Old Saybrook is not far behind, having already bought its streetlights from Eversource after an audit confirmed their number, approved a LED conversion vendor, and has a funding plan in place.