Retrofitting Calgary's streetlights with LED technology will save money and energy, but comes at a cost, says a report coming before a city committee.
A report coming Wednesday to the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation and Transit pegs the cost of switching 19,500 residential streetlights from high pressure sodium bulbs to LEDs at $23.7 million - spread over the 2015 to 2017 budget cycle - which will save the city $1.3 million and 3.200 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
The report calls for a 15-year return on investment.
The cost may seem high, but it's one the city might have to swallow, said Ald. Gord Lowe, who sits on the committee.
"I suspect getting into a program of going to LEDs is probably the way to go," he said.
"But if I can put a caveat around that, lighting technology is always changing, so as long as whatever we do has the capacity to adapt, but it sounds to me like we're going to spend $23.7 million one way or the other.
"The other side of the coin is, if we don't spend the $23.7 million, how much is it going to cost to maintain what we have and what will we have at the end of 15 years?"
In 2002, the city began retrofitting 37,500 residential streetlights with EnviroSmart fixtures, with the remaining 19,500 identified as potential LEDs.
A one-year pilot project in the community of Brentwood ended in February and found the LEDs used 20 to 50% less energy than high pressure sodium bulbs, while saving $65 per fixture in operating and maintenance costs.
Fellow committee member Ald. Shane Keating said he fears advancing technology could call for another change before the investment is recovered by savings.
"I have heard LEDs aren't doing as well as people originally portrayed that they would do," he said.
"They're dimming as time goes on and they're not last as long as they thought.
"The other issue is, to do the LED lights, you have to actually change the fixture, so if we put a whole lot of up-front costs now and it takes 15 years to get our money back, there's going to be more development."
