Anderson, PG&E partner to replace 105 streetlights with low-cost LED fixtures

The City of Anderson and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) partnered to recently replace all 105 city-owned streetlight fixtures with new, energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights.The new streetlights, located along North Street, Stingy Lane, Pleasant Hills Drive, Oak Street, Nathan Street are providing brighter, more natural light to improve nighttime illumination and lowering the city's energy costs. Lights on stretches of State Route 273 were also replaced in a joint partnership between Anderson and the California Department of Transportation.
As a result of this project, the city will annually save $5,716 in energy costs paid by the city's General Fund. The project also earned more than $10,500 in PG&E incentives and moved the city to a lower energy rate, he said. The project will also remove the equivalent of 23,000 pounds of greenhouse gases from the environment, PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno announced."LED lights will offer significant long-term savings," said Jeff Kiser, who also serves as the city's public works director. "The money we save from these LED streetlights will allow us to invest in other important city projects."Hopefully, this is only the first step towards converting all the city's streetlights to LED to further reduce operating costs and advance the city's sustainability goals," said Kiser. "City staff will look for future partnering opportunities with PG&E to make a city-wide conversion a reality."
"PG&E is proud to work with the City of Anderson to upgrade existing street light fixtures with energy-efficient lighting," said Lia White, PG&E's executive manager of energy solutions and services in the northern Sacramento River Valley. "We will continue to collaborate with the city to provide Anderson residents with energy-efficient lighting that improves public safety and helps reduce Anderson's carbon footprint."
Since late 2009, more than 45 northern and central California cities have enjoyed the benefits of PG&E's LED Street Light Turnkey Replacement Service, White said. The program provides a one-stop solution for local communities that want to take advantage of the LED Street Light program to save energy while minimizing the public cost of managing and implementing lighting retrofit projects, she added. By participating in the program, customers are eligible for new, lower energy pricing and utility-provided energy efficiency incentives, White noted.