(Credit: Pixabay)The City of Medford, Oregon announced recently that the it has entered into a $4 million contract with Ameresco to convert more than 7,000 street lights and park lighting to LED technology. The improvements are being financed by a low-interest loan.
Medford’s Transportation Manager, Karl MacNair, says completing this upgrade through an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) will allow the City to fund the project with energy savings over the term of the contract.
The project will impact approximately 8,000 light fixtures across the City. All city and utility-owned street lights will be converted, as well as additional park and parking lot locations. Medford began their efforts in 2019 by converting a small portion of their lights to LED. This large-scale conversion will drastically reduce the city’s energy use for street lighting. After the conversion, residents will benefit from improved light quality and color rendering of Medford’s roadways.
The project is expected to be completed in 2021.
New York State recently followed the same path. In June, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) launched a statewide program that aims to replace at least 500,000 streetlights with energy-efficient LED technology by 2025.
NYPA, the country’s largest state public power organization, formed a partnership with Dutch LED lighting systems company Signify to support the new program, called Smart Street Lighting NY. The public power organization says that it plans to provide financial, logistical, technical, and informational support through the program for cities that want to upgrade their street lighting systems.
