Green Mountain Power gets approval for revised LED streetlight tariff

Green Mountain Power, an investor owned utility in Vermont, has received approval from the Vermont Public Service Board for a revised rate tariff for LED streetlights. The revised rate tariff reflects the lower energy consumption of LED luminaires and provides customers with an additional incentive to switch to the more energy efficient fixtures. Green Mountain Power serves approximately 95,000 customers with 13,500 streetlights.

For more on this story read New Streetlights' "Green Mountain Power receives Vermont Public Service Board approval for revised LED streetlight rate tariff".

Menlo Park, California, awaits $160,000+ for LED streetlights

The city of Menlo Park, California is awaiting an award of $163,154 from the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The funds will be used for the first phase of Menlo Park’s five year LED streetlight replacement plan. The city plans to replace 250 existing high pressure sodium lights with EECBG funds and then an additional 215 lights as part of the Las Pulgas Community Development project funded through community development funds.

For more on this story read the New Streetlights article "Menlo Park, California, awaits $163,154 in federal funding for LED streetlights".

Six LED streetlight winners in Next Gen Luminaires Contest

Six commercial LED street lighting products were selected for awards in the second annual Next Generation Luminaires (NGL) Solid State Lighting (SSL) Design Competition.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the International Association of Lighting Designers, the NGL competition was launched in 2008 to promote excellence in the design of energy-efficient LED luminaires for general illumination in commercial lighting applications.

For details of the six LED streetlight winners and their product offerings refer to the New Streetlights story "Six LED streetlight winners in Next Generation Luminaires Design Competition".

PG&E and Progress Energy Carolinas drive LED streetlight adoption

A common complaint of municipalities contemplating the deployment of LED streetlights is the resistance they face from electric utilities related to adjusting rate tariffs. While the LED streetlight technology creates immediate electricity cost savings, many utilities are not eager to pass the savings along to municipalities and taxpayers.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) on the west coast and Progress Energy Carolinas (PEC) on the east coast have proven to be LED streetlight change agents, not defenders of the status quo. Not only have these utilities already implemented revised rate tariffs that reflect the lower energy consumption of LED streetlights, but they have also established turnkey programs that provide full-service purchase and installation for municipal partners.

For more on this story refer to the New Streetlights article "Pacific Gas & Electric and Progress Energy Carolinas drive LED streetlight adoption through revised rate tariffs and turnkey programs".

Watsonville, California installs 400 LED streetlights, plans 1000 more

Watsonville, California, has completed the first phase of the city’s plan to deploy LED streetlights.

Watsonville installed 400 LED streetlights two weeks ago using funds from the the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. Watsonville worked with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which has a unique turnkey program for LED streetlights. Cities that participate in the PG&E turnkey program receive a number of benefits. Municipalities receive rebates for purchasing PG&E-approved LED streetlights and electricity rate reductions. PG&E also installs the LED streetlights for turnkey program participants.

For the full story read our article "Watsonville, California, completes installation of 400 LED streetlights and plans to install 1,000 additional luminaires"

Morgan Hill, California, gets $157,000 for LED streetlights

Morgan Hill, California, will use a $157,000 grant from the US Department of Energy to convert 200 high pressure sodium streetlights to energy efficient LED streetlights by June 2010.

As a recipient of the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG), the city of Morgan Hill will launch the first phase of a five year initiative to convert all city-owned streetlights to LED streetlights.

For more on this story, refer to our article "Morgan Hill, California, receives $157,000 for LED streetlights".

East Lansing, Michigan, $115,000 for LED streetlight pilot

The city of East Lansing, Michigan, has been awarded $115,000 by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to launch an LED streetlight pilot.

East Lansing plans to deploy a 125 LED streetlight pilot as soon as final administrative approval is received from the Department of Energy. Funding of $115,000 from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program has been awarded for this LED demonstration project. City officials hope to begin the project by mid-year 2010. City officials said that the program will focus on a residential neighborhood with highly inefficient streetlights.

To learn more about this project read our article "East Lansing, Michigan awarded $115,000 for LED streetlight pilot".

SW Washington cities get $405,000 for LED streetlights

An Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) from the U.S. Department of Energy is giving Southwest Washington cities the opportunity to purchase and test LED streetlight technology. A tri-city partnership of Washougal, Camas and Battle Ground, Washington, is working together as an informal consortium to increase its buying power for LED streetlights. Each city has received $135,000 in EECBG awards. Clark Public Utilities, a customer-owned municipal corporation, is assisting the three cities in identifying and qualifying LED streetlight products.

For more details read our article "Southwest Washington cities receive $405,000 for LED streetlights".