Hartlepool Borough Council is proposing to replace all of Hartlepool’s 13,644 street lights with LED luminaires in a 12-month scheme.
The council says the scheme, which it is estimated will cost £5 million, will save the authority between £400,000 and £550,000 a year on its energy bill.
Alistair Smith, the council’s assistant director of neighbourhoods, told the Hartlepool Mail: “There is a great deal of uncertainty over the future cost of electricity with costs expected to rise at an above inflation rate for the foreseeable future.
“LED lighting has been identified as the solution to rising energy costs by substantially reducing energy consumption whilst also reducing maintenance costs by utilising new technology that comes with a guarantee of over 20 years.”
The council says it expects it will still be left with an annual saving of £180,000 a year in its street light maintenance budget after paying back the loan to buy the new lighting equipment.
The proposal will be discussed at Hartlepool’s meeting of the neighbourhood services committee next week.
