City to Begin LED Conversion of Street Lights Citywide
Pawtucket – The City of Pawtucket’s Department of Public Works (DPW) has announced that Siemens will begin the conversion of street lights citywide to LED. Installation is anticipated to begin in mid-August, with the expected completion date in mid-January.
“The City is constantly looking for innovative ways to save the taxpayers’ money,” said Mayor Donald R. Grebien. “Transitioning over to LED lights will not only save us money, but is environmentally friendly. We are making Pawtucket cleaner and greener.
In conjunction with the Office of Energy Resource (OER), DPW conducted audits to the City’s facilities, including city street lights, and was approved to replace the lights by converting them from high pressure sodium bulbs to LED.
With this conversion, the City will save approximately $5 million dollars in energy savings over the next thirteen (13) years, the average lifetime of the LED bulbs. Furthermore, the City will also receive rebates from National Grid and OER following the conversions. Siemens was awarded the contract in total of roughly $3 million, which has been previously obtained through a low interest loan from the RI Infrastructure Bank to improve the energy consuming intake by upgrading multiple areas to our city owned assets.
Projects funded through the Infrastructure Bank save municipalities more than they cost, and therefore allow cities and towns to make investments at no additional cost to taxpayers.