It’s going to cost more than expected to switch to LED streetlights, but the savings are still expected to be substantial.
At its Dec. 9 meeting, Mapleton council accepted a revised proposal from Real Term Energy for the retrofit of streetlights to an LED system at a cost of $384,400 plus HST.
Public works director Brad McRoberts explained in a report to council that the original agreement approved by council on Aug. 26 had a cost of $217,437. At that time it was estimated 391 units would require conversion.
McRoberts said a detailed audit conducted by Real Term has identified a total of 514 light units within the township. The majority of the difference can be account for with:
– 77 from new subdivisions;
– 22 acorn-type decorative in downtown Drayton;
– two box top-type in municipal lot; and
– 22 various discrepancies between Mapleton’s records and the audit. “Staff have done a visual verification of those lights in the smaller urban areas such as Alma, Rothsay, Moorefield and Glen Allan. Many of the decorative lights require higher per-unit costs for conversion. We have three sets of decorative lights, all within Drayton,” McRoberts states in the report.
Part of the increase is balanced by an increase in a rebate from the Ontario Power Authority to $58,163, resulting in an overall project cost of $326,237. With a projected annual savings in energy and maintenance costs of $58,364, it is expected that, the project would have a simple payback period of about five years. The previous proposal had a cost of $217,437 with savings of $49,648 and a simple payback period of approximately four years. “Even with the additional luminaires the project still has an excellent return of investment,” stated McRoberts.
Councillor Lori Woodham questioned how the township would handle replacement and repair of old-style streetlights until the new ones are in place.
“If we go forward, do we now draw a line in the sand for streetlights that don’t work?” she asked, noting the township had recently spent $9,000 to repair existing lights.
“That’s a very good question,” said McRoberts, noting it could take six to eight months to fully implement the streetlight replacement program. “There will be some onus that we will have to replace some of them.”
“Is it possible to roll this out progressively?” asked councillor Marlene Ottens. “So you do a neighbourhood of new ones … trying to be a little more stewardly with the remaining bulbs.”
Woodham also asked who would be responsible for disposal of the old streetlights.
“The contractors will take the lights. They might get recycled. I doubt they’ll get re-used,” said McRoberts.
