The New York Power Authority is installing LED street lighting at municipalities in Sullivan County as part of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Smart Street Lighting NY program, which calls for at least 500,000 streetlights throughout the state to be replaced with LED technology by 2025.
The lighting upgrades will be undertaken throughout the Town of Tusten, Town of Fallsburg and Town of Thompson, in addition to the replacement of street lighting along Sullivan County roads. In total, the more than $3 million upgrade, financed and implemented by NYPA, includes the replacement of more than 2,340 streetlights with energy-saving LED fixtures, improving lighting quality and neighborhood safety while reducing energy and maintenance costs. The installations are expected to begin this month and complete in the spring.
NYPA is also providing up to $155,000 in Smart Cities grants for the projects, which include asset management nodes and smart street lighting controls that allow for the automatic reporting of outages, minimizing maintenance costs. In addition, the light fixtures now have the capability to be dimmed and remotely controlled. NYPA and the municipalities are in the process of designing additional smart street lighting features to be implemented following completion of the LED fixture upgrades.
“Under the Governor’s Smart Street Lighting NY program, NYPA is in the process of replacing tens of thousands of streetlights across the state and fully expects to exceed the Governor’s goal of replacing 500,000 lights by 2025,” said Gil C. Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO. “This impactful program is helping municipalities throughout the state to reduce energy and maintenance costs and improve safety, while also protecting the environment.”
“As a longtime Statewide leader in green energy initiatives, Sullivan County is thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with NYPA and our local municipalities on this important project,” said Sullivan County Sustainability Coordinator Heather Brown. “We are seizing an opportunity to provide higher-quality lighting that delivers both environmental and cost-saving benefits. I want to thank NYPA for their collaboration and support, which is key to continuing our efforts to upgrade our infrastructure to 21st century standards.”
“We are excited to join with NYPA and offer a quality lighting experience to our residents at reduced cost, while doing our part to ensure a greener environment,” Town of Thompson Supervisor William J. Rieber, Jr. said.
NYPA is working with cities, towns, villages and counties throughout New York to fully manage and implement a customer’s transition to LED streetlight technology. NYPA provides 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 percent 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.
The program directly supports the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the most aggressive climate change law in the nation, through the increased use of energy efficiency to annually reduce electricity demand by three percent—equivalent to 1.8 million New York households—by 2025. To learn more about the Smart Street Lighting NY program, visit the program webpage on NYPA’s website.
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