PRESS RELEASE
Mayor Kos announces LED Street Light Program Early Completion
CHICOPEE – Chicopee Electric Light (CEL) has completed the replacement of the street lights with energy efficient LED street lights. The installation of the LED lights began in the spring of 2016 and was completed this spring. The replacement program was projected to take place over a 4 year period and Mayor Kos is pleased to report it has been completed in only 3 years.
“Besides the significant energy savings, the LED street lights will last much longer requiring less maintenance. The old lights needed to be replaced about every 6-8 years and the new lights should last over 20 years. Since the LED’s put out more of white light the quality of light will also be improved,” said General Manager Jeffrey R. Cady.
“Becoming more energy efficient allows the City to control costs without reducing services to our citizens,” said Mayor Richard J. Kos. “We also get the added benefit of improved lighting quality throughout the City while lowering our overall street lighting costs. This is a win-win situation for the City” said Kos.
As shown in the chart below, the monthly savings has increased over time as lights were replaced. The cost of replacing the 4,700 fixtures was just over $1,150,000. The utility has paid for the cost of the fixtures upfront and the City will continue paying back 80% through the savings at what was expected to be a 7 year period. However, it will be closer to 6 years based on the project being finished earlier.
Currently, the City is paying approximately $180,000 a year towards the cost of the new lights and will see an annual net savings of about $45,000. To date, the City has seen an approximate gross savings of $694,000. After the project is paid off the annual street light savings will be approximately $225,000, resulting in a gross savings of approximately $1,501,700 by 2022. This could change depending on how many additional street lights the City requests over the years.
Chicopee Electric Light donated the labor, so the only cost to the City was the cost of the street light fixtures themselves. In addition, the City has saved approximately $149,000 to date even while paying for the project due to the structured payments offered by CEL. To help defray some of the project costs, CEL was able to obtain 2 energy efficiency grants totaling $150,000 from the Massachusetts Area Planning Council and the Department of Energy Resources.
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