When the street lights emit their nightly glow, very soon some of them will be more efficient. The city of Sioux Falls unveiled a plan on Tuesday to institute energy-saving street lighting on a limited basis.

In a press release, the City describes how replacing traditional High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) streetlights with Light Emitting Diode (LED) streetlights will be of great benefit. In total, 65 light fixtures will be replaced with the LED Streetlight Neighborhood Pilot Project.

The new LED streetlights, which are expected to last at least 100,000 hours, will provide the same amount of light but use about half as much energy as the existing HPS streetlights. The project is expected to realize annual energy savings of over 48,000 kWh, equating to over $4,000 per year. The project will pay for itself in savings in just under five years, or 20,000 operating hours. The new streetlights will also be on their own meter, allowing City officials to monitor the power consumption of the new lights and compare to a traditional streetlight.

Why not replace them all at once? Light Superintendent Jerry Jongeling explains that the new lights will be different and people will have to adjust. “Streetlighting is a vital piece of our city’s infrastructure, and it represents a significant portion of our electricity consumption. We are starting with a pilot project because we want to receive input from the public about the aesthetics and quality of light from the new streetlights. Because of the potential energy and cost savings, we hope to eventually switch out all traditional HPS lights with LED streetlights.”

Once the lights are installed, residents can submit their impressions by taking a brief online survey plus maps of the pilot areas can also be found at  www.siouxfalls.org/LED.

The streetlights being replaced include 10 lights along Grange Avenue from 13th Street to 17th Street, 14 lights along 6th Street from West Avenue to Prairie Avenue, 10 lights along East 26th Street from 4th Avenue to 6th Avenue, 20 lights along Minnesota Avenue from 77th Street to 85th Street, and 11 lights from 18th Street to Dakota Avenue and 17th Street to Phillips Avenue. LED lights have also been installed along the Lake Lorraine development on the west side of Sioux Falls.

The City received a $5,000 grant from Heartland Consumers Power District to help supplement a portion of the expenses for upgrading the City’s lighting from high pressure sodium lights to LED lights. Heartland is a nonprofit, public power utility providing wholesale power, energy services, and community development programs to the City of Sioux Falls, as well as to other communities and state agencies in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa.

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