This week, the City of Petersburg in partnership with Dominion Energy, will start the capital improvement project of converting existing City streetlights to LED. LED lighting, which stands for light-emitting diode, produces light up to 90% more efficiently than incandescent light bulbs.
This project, which began to take shape around 2016, will include the replacement of current City streetlight bulbs to LED bulbs. A total of 3,199 streetlights will be converted through a 4-phase process. While the initial cost to the City is $503,581.36, this change will result in a total monthly savings of $10,637.15 and $127,645.80 annually. The project is anticipated to be complete in Spring 2022.
“It has been exciting to watch this project evolve from the idea stage to now,” said Petersburg Mayor, Sam Parham. “There are many benefits that follow switching to LED including increased safety and increased financial savings to the City. As our City Council is determined in our commitment to improving our community, it is our hope that this will continue to spark noticeable change throughout Petersburg.”
In addition to the increased safety and financial savings, LED streetlights reduce energy use, reduce the City’s carbon footprint, and promote green energy. This conversion will also result in a longer lifespan for the streetlights and additional fiscal savings through a decrease in demand for maintenance and replacement.
The first phase of the conversion project started during the last week in April near downtown Petersburg.
