City officials to hold LED streetlight presentations

Following successful tests and City Council approval, Yuma’s Public Works Department is preparing to replace the city’s approximately 7,000 streetlights with energy-efficient light-emitting diode lighting, better known as LEDs.

The city invites residents to learn more about the transition by attending any one of three upcoming open house meetings.

Through this change, the city says it will save in electricity costs while also making roadways safer with improved lighting.

Meetings will be held at the following times, dates and locations: 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Yuma Readiness and Community Center, 6550 E. 24th St. (corner of 24th Street and Araby Road); 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Yuma Public Works Services Building, 155 W. 14th St.; and 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive.

LED streetlights can provide a 65 percent reduction in energy usage from the current technology, plus significant annual utility and maintenance savings, according to a city press release. The cost of the project should be paid back in about 5.5 years.

LEDs last three to four times longer than existing high-pressure sodium streetlights. Most LED fixtures are rated to maintain at least 70 percent of their light output for 100,000 hours, which is about 20 years, or double the 10-year warranty period.

In addition to the extended lifecycle and lower replacement costs, the city said, LEDs result in reduced light pollution at night and improved and more uniform light quality. Because they use less energy, LEDs also help to reduce carbon emissions.

LEDs also make colors look brighter and closer to true natural color, the city said. Because objects appear brighter and sharper under LEDs, police and other safety personnel prefer them to older streetlight technologies.

Besides the longer lifespan and lower light pollution, LED lights have several other benefits compared to sodium lights. LEDs return to full luminance instantly in the event of a power failure, unlike bulbs that require heating time upon restart; this makes neighborhoods bright again instantly after power outages, and is good for athletic fields as well.

LEDs are additionally believed to be less attractive to nocturnal insects. And LEDs tend not to burn out; instead, their brightness fades over time.