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07/26/2017 08:30 AMWith the release of a request for proposal to four bidders for a project to convert 512 town streetlights to LED, the town has taken another step towards reducing its energy consumption.
The turn-key project would replace 512 existing high-pressure sodium-vapor fixtures with LED (light-emitting diode) versions, with the project paying for itself in four years. Bids are due back to the town in early August.
The town’s current annual cost to operate its streetlights, both energy charges and maintenance, is $90,000, according to the RFP. Included in this charge is $37,400 per year charged by the utility to maintain the streetlight system.
Currently, the new Town Center parking lot at Knothe Road at the Boston Post Road has installed four decorative light fixtures with LED bulbs. The downtown lights’ color is bright white; streetlights installed in residential neighborhoods will cast a softer, more yellowish warm white light, according to the RFP.
The RFP document projects an annual savings to the town of $77,000 per year in charges currently paid for Eversource energy and overhead equipment costs.
The RFP’s summary paragraph presents the financing approach to pay for the conversion project.
“The total project cost was then estimated at some $328,000, including a rebate incentive of some $58,000...[with] nearly the entire cost to be financed at zero percent interest over four years to be paid from savings, and after the fourth year, such savings are available to be used for further efficiency projects or other town purposes.”
The RFP notes that the plan assumes the town would receive the promised rebate from the state’s Energy Efficiency Fund for the LED installation and the ability to finance the purchase through a zero percent interest, four-year loan through the Eversource affiliate. If state budget talks eliminate this program, then the town would not be bound to complete the planned project.
Once the town has purchased the current streetlights from Eversource, town leaders would plan to execute a separate streetlight maintenance contract with an outside firm at a time and materials rate.
The exact purchase price for the town’s 512 streetlights is uncertain since it is dependent on how many other towns succeed in buying their own streetlights between now and when the town would close on the purchase. Eversource spreads its overhead for operating the streetlight program over the streetlights and towns still in its program. As towns—and their streetlights—exit the Eversource streetlight program, the program’s operating costs are spread over the fewer towns that remain, so the cost for the Town to buy its lights will likely rise over time as more and more towns leave the Eversource program.