Upgrading Town’s Street Lights Boosts Savings

The Challenge

Owego is located in Tioga County, New York. Nestled along the banks of the Susquehanna River, Owego encompasses approximately 105 square miles, with a population hovering around 20,000.

Like many towns across the U.S., Owego’s local utility was charging more for their street light maintenance than the energy costs. (In some towns this charge can be as high as $650 per pole.)

The existing street lights used primarily High Pressure Sodium (HPS), or Metal Halide (MH) lights, which consume approximately twice the energy of LED lights.

Town officials understood that street lighting is vital to creating a safe and aesthetically pleasing environment for residents and visitors. They needed a better way to conserve energy, reduce spending, and improve public safety.

The Solution

The Town of Owego partnered with Centrica Business Solutions to buy back their street lights from the utility. In addition to reducing maintenance charges, taking back ownership of their street lights gave Owego the opportunity to upgrade to energy efficient LED fixtures, and install daylight controls.

One of the key advantages of LEDs is they have an extremely long lifespan, which further reduces maintenance costs. The overhead fixtures last between 100,000 to 150,000 hours, which translates to 22-34 years. Since LEDs use less that 50% of the energy of traditional streetlights, they dramatically reduce energy
consumption and costs.

The Impact

A total of 529 fixtures were replaced, saving taxpayers nearly $65,000 per year, and allowing the Town of Owego to meet their energy efficiency goals.

• Annual Estimated Maintenance Cost Savings: $44,904
• Annual Estimated Energy Savings Cost: 19,104