City will soon begin installing energy efficient ‘smart’ lighting
COHOES, N.Y. » The Spindle City owns 1,597 of its street lighting systems and can begin converting the outdated and inefficient lighting technology to updated energy-efficient LightEmitting Diode (LED) bulbs in “smart lighting” infrastructure. The city recently completed the purchase from National Grid at a cost of $859,439.
Work on converting the street lighting systems is scheduled to begin in January 2022.
“This is a green energy project that pays for itself and so much more,” Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler said.
“The $9 million in energy cost savings over the next 20 years, will not only cover the cost of the new lighting systems, it also provides essential matching funds to help make important upgrades to our historic city buildings, parks, and playgrounds, and will be used to incorporate smart technologies in our city operations,” Keeler noted.
Converting the 1,597 fixtures (light bulb and the “arm” light is attached to) from the current High-Intensity Discharge (HID) bulbs to the energy-efficient LED lights, on fixtures with smart lighting capabilities, will cost approximately $2.5 million. The projected $9 million in savings over 20 years includes $2.9 million in energy savings and $6 million in reductions in service and supplier fees to National Grid. A portion of that energy cost savings funded the purchase of the street lighting systems
from National Grid and will cover the cost of the purchase and installation of the LED’s, and maintenance of the new system.
“Switching out the old streetlights for LEDs is part of our overall ‘Cleaner Greener Cohoes’ program to save money and the environment. These projects will have a generational impact on Cohoes, and we are just getting started,” City Planner Joe SemanGraves, who is leading the LED conversion effort, added.
In April 2021 the Cohoes Common Council approved Keeler’s proposed $6.6 million Historic Cleaner Greener Cohoes Bond initiative to finance the LED conversion project and other energy savings reinvestment initiatives. The projected $9 million in energy cost savings over 20 years will cover the cost of the bond payments.
In addition to the $2.5 Million “Green Energy Street Lighting” conversion, the Historic Cleaner Greener Cohoes Bond will fund projects including:
In April 2020, the city issued a Request for Proposal for an Energy Service Company (ESCO) to conduct an energy audit of its municipal buildings. SIEMENS, a global company with an office in Latham, was selected in May 2020, completed the energy audit in Sept. 2020, and has been contracted to complete the street light conversion project as approved by the Common Council.