The electricity bill for the city’s streetlights could be cut in half under a plan proposed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell to replace about 51,700 low-pressure sodium street lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lamps over the next few years.
A formal Request for Proposals seeking vendors for a public-private partnership was issued by the city this week. Under the specifications, city officials are hoping that a private vendor could finance the conversion without the city needing to pay for installation costs upfront.
City Councilman Stanley Chang, an early proponent of an islandwide conversion, said he is aware of vendors who are amenable and are able to take on the project with no upfront costs to the city. "This is a good development," said Chang, who fought to keep $80,000 in the current year’s capital improvements budget that was used to help prepare the proposal request for street light conversion. "They’re the green choice for lighting our streets," he said.
The city now pays about $6 million annually to power its street lights, officials said. They estimate the switch could save roughly $3 million in energy costs annually. The savings is expected to pay for the installation, which is anticipated to take about four years. The payback period is also projected at four years, city officials said.
Also, the city is eligible to receive a per-fixture rebate of $25 to $33 through Hawaii Energy, a taxpayer-funded conservation and efficiency program created by the state Public Utilities Commission.
A 2013 demonstration project, using U.S. Department of Energy funding, replaced about 400 traditional lamps with LEDs in four parts of the island: Mililani, Manoa, Waialae-Kahala and Nuuanu. Caldwell, who made the energy conservation initiative a key highlight of his 2014 State of the City address in February, said the demonstration project showed the lamps used 40 percent less energy.
Besides being more energy-efficient and lasting significantly longer than traditional lights, proponents say LEDs emit brighter, directional lighting that can help prevent crime and reduce the number of vehicular accidents.
Lance Rae, of the state-sponsored Walk Wise Hawaii program aimed at promoting pedestrian safety, said his group applauds the city’s move to convert to LEDs.
"Any type of improvements that help pedestrians be seen better at night is a good thing for pedestrian safety," Rae said, noting that most walkers don’t wear reflective clothing or blinking lights when they are on the streets.
"A majority of pedestrian accidents and fatalities happen during twilight hours," Rae said.
The language of the RFP says the contractor will "provide financing, labor, materials, supplies, equipment, facilities, disposal, process utility rebates and revise billing requests, and provide warranty services" to the city.
While the lamp wattages of existing lamps vary from 55 to 400 watts, most are fitted with 70-watt high-pressure sodium lights.
