Street Light LED Pilot Project

We Need Your Feedback!

As you may know, the City of Newburyport purchased all of its street lights from National Grid in the Fall of 2014, after several audits of the lights and months of negotiations with National Grid.  Invaluable assistance through this process was provided from the Newburyport Energy Advisory Committee. The City purchased the lights for $98,199 which was paid from the city's green initiatives fund (the solar rebate we received for the 2009 Nock/DPS solar project).  Annual savings for owning the lights versus renting them is approximately $100,000 per year.

Additional savings can be achieved if we upgrade our lights to LED (light emitting diode) technology. In 2014, National Grid established a new tariff (electricity consumption price) for LED lighting which uses and requires significantly less energy thereby enabling street light costs to be reduced even further.

With this new tariff in place, the city's ownership will allow us to upgrade all street lights to LED.  LED technology reduces maintenance costs due to increased efficiencies , provides more than a 50% energy savings, and provides improved light output in terms of spectrum of light that aids night vision.

The first step we have taken to review this as a possible option, is to conduct a pilot of 5 different variations of the LED technology. We have installed pilot LEDs on Moseley Avenue and are looking for feedback from residents as to their thoughts on these fixtures; you can send us your thoughts via e-mail to dps@cityofnewburyport.com

The lights with the new LED fixtures are:

  • Pole # 3 on Moseley Ave at Chase Street across from #9 Moseley Ave
     
  • Pole # 6 at #18 Moseley Ave
     
  • Pole # 12 at corner of New Street on Moseley Ave
     
  • Pole # 14 at #39 Moseley Ave
     
  • Pole # 19 at #65 Moseley Ave across from Harding Ave (this pole has an LED lamp retrofitted into the existing fixture)

Evaluation criteria

We are looking for feedback regarding brightness, color, and light distribution as both a driver and pedestrian.  The City will be tracking prices, savings, size, weight, tool free features, maintenance, ease of installation, reliability and luminaire performance amongst other criteria before deciding on a standard bulb.

Thank you for your interest in this project as we continue to find ways to reduce costs while maintaining and upgrading municipal services.