New York Power Authority Continues to Install LED Streetlights throughout the State
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the Town of Irondequoit began the installation of energy-efficient SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) LED streetlights throughout the town as part of the state’s Smart Street Lighting NY program. New York has now replaced hundreds of thousands of its streetlights with LED fixtures as part of the state’s goal to replace at least 500,000 streetlights with LED technology by 2025.
The $3 million upgrade, installed and financed by the Power Authority, includes the replacement of nearly 2,000 streetlights throughout the town with energy-saving LED fixtures. The project is expected to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80 metric tons annually.
NYPA will provide upfront financing for the project, with payments to NYPA made in the years following from the cost-savings created by the reduced energy use of the LED streetlights, which are 50% to 65% more efficient than alternative street lighting options.
Through this statewide street lighting program, NYPA’s government customers are provided a wide array of lighting options to help meet their individual needs, including specifications on the lights to incorporate SMART technology, which can be used for dozens of other functions, such as cameras and other safety features, weather sensors, Wi-Fi and energy meters.
To further advance the state’s effort to replace existing New York street lighting, in 2020, NYPA launched a new maintenance service to provide routine and on-call maintenance services for LED street lighting fixtures installed by NYPA throughout the state. The new service is available to municipalities that have engaged NYPA to implement a LED street lighting conversion and have elected to install an asset management controls system on their street lighting system, reducing the number of failures and repairs needed after installation is complete.
NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the nation, with more than 80% of its electricity produced by renewable hydropower. It is responsible for financing the project under its Smart Street Lighting NY initiative. New York plans to reimburse NYPA in upcoming years from the cost-savings created by the reduced energy use of the LED streetlights.
Municipalities that have already converted to LED streetlights in collaboration with NYPA include Albany, Utica, Rochester, Syracuse, and White Plains, among others. In September, the New York State government announced that it was ahead of schedule, having already replaced more than 286,000 of streetlights throughout the state with energy-efficient LEDs.