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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gg cox who wrote (8669)	10/5/2008 12:02:47 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24225

To Save Energy, Cities Darken Street Lights By Kate Galbraith From Belmont, Mass., (see this article from The Boston Globe) to the tiny but trendy town of Marfa, Tex., (News West 9) a number of municipalities have turned off, or are considering turning off, their street lights to save money. Even Fairbanks, Alaska, has discussed turning out the lights, to the chagrin of local police. According to an article this summer in The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, a whopping 60 percent or more of the city’s electricity bill comes from street lights. (Seems staggering, but it is dark half the year.) The London Times reported last week that the city council of Powys, Wales, had decided to darken 64 percent of its lamps. “I know that elderly people are particularly concerned,” a local official was quoted as saying. And in Santa Rosa, Calif., an Adopt-A-Light program gives residents the opportunity to turn darkened street lights back on — they just have to pay $150 a year for each light. The rationale from the Adopt-a-Light program guide: The City of Santa Rosa has 14,500 street lights and 200 traffic signals. Each year, it costs $1.5 million to provide energy to these lights. Revenue shortfalls in the city’s general fund are expected to be in the range of $2.5 million. As part of a citywide program to reduce expenditures, a number of midblock street lights on selected collector and arterial streets have been turned off. At current energy rates, the city anticipates that this program will reduce its energy bill by $150,000 annually. The $150 payment is submitted to the Public Works Department. “Include the pole number on the check,” the program further advises. “Allow two weeks for the light to be energized.” To be sure, there are alternatives that keep street lights on and cut the bill. Many cities, like St. Paul, are considering switching to more efficient light-emitting diodes to keep their streets lighted. Last month at our sibling blog, Bits, Eric Taub reported on a small pilot program in New York City, aimed at testing L.E.D.’s here. And Santa Rosa has switched to L.E.D. technology in all street lights at intersections — which are not subject to the Adopt-a-Light program. Taking a different approach, the mayor of Ann Arbor, Mich., is considering using motion sensors on street lights, which will darken the lamps if no activity is detected on the street. Also worth noting: a smarter grid — in which electricity prices are based on time of day — might make the issue moot. Street lights are obviously creatures of the night, and nighttime is when demand for electricity, and thus the cost of generation, is lowest. greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com