Orillia council is considering upgrading the city’s streetlights to LED lighting.
Council is debating the switch to LED as part of its 2020 budget deliberations.
Currently, the city’s 3,200 streetlights are high pressure sodium, which has an estimated end-of-life of 24,000 operating hours or more than 2.5 years.
Converting to LED streetlights can achieve substantial energy and cost savings and is also capable of improving the overall lighting quality, according to a staff report.
“Energy consumption is anticipated to decreaseby approximately 76 per cent as a result of the upgrade,” the report stated.
That would result in a 40 per cent potential savings in electricity costs and an 80 per cent reduction in annual maintenance costs.
City staff is also recommending streetlights be equipped with smart lighting controls.
“Utilizing the smart lighting controls would allow the entire network to be managed through a mapped database. Deficiencies and outages would be visible in real-time on the mapping interface,” the staff report stated.
Switching to the smart system would allow the city tochange light output levels to account for activity level and luminaire performance, resulting in energy savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The controls would allow the City’s streetlight network to be connected and monitored remotely to determine lighting outages, allow for fixtures to be dimmed and lighting levels adjusted.
The total price tag for the project is $2.4 million with smart lighting controls costing $450,000. The operating cost for the smart lighting system is projected up to $40,000 annually.
The city could recoup the cost for the project within six years.
Currently, the city says it is very challenging to identify outages efficiently as they are reported.
Having a precise, real-time view of the network will allow deficiencies to be visible and addressed in a more timely and efficient manner, according to the staff report.
The budget will debated at a special council meeting on December 9.
