Cleveland, the most populous city in Ohio, U.S. will be rolling out a major streetlight upgrade, according to a report by Associated Press (AP).
According to the Cleveland.com report, limited tariffs have blocked municipalities from making the switch to LED streetlights.
Streetlights in Cleveland are not metered. Instead, cities pay a fixed price per streetlight, based on wattage streetlights in Ohio are estimated to burn about 4,200 hours per year.
Cleveland authorities are aiming to solve this issue by introducing smart LED streetlights to regulate energy consumption, reported AP.
Ferguson has briefed members of City Council’s Utilities Committee last week on the results of 2-year, 1,000-LED-fixture pilot program that involved 15 different LED and LED controls manufacturers.
City authorities are assessing the 67,000 conventional streetlights installed throughout the city to determine how many LED streetlights would be required for an effective replacement, reported Cleveland.com. The survey is expected to take 90 days to complete, said James Ferguson, chief of street lighting at Cleveland Public Power.
Streetlights currently cost the city US $12 million per year.
They also briefed the committee about the purpose of the citywide-streetlight inventory, which the CPP prefers having an outside consultant conduct before procuring more LED streetlights.
The Public Utilities Department is seeking approval from city lawmakers to spend $300,000 on its budget to hire the consulting company.
