Victoria, BC Undertakes $2.1M LED Streetlight Conversion

July 22, 2016

BC’s capital city plans to convert existing high pressure sodium streetlights to “warm” 3,000K LED fixtures in residential areas and brighter 4,000K fixtures in all signalized intersections and marked crosswalks, reports Bill Cleverley in the Times Colonist.

“We are actually replacing apples with oranges here,” Fraser Work, the city’s Director of Engineering, recently told city councillors. “The wattage and performance attributes of LEDs are inherently different than what we are seeing in the HPS.”

In his presentation to council, Work cited a U.S. Department of Energy report projecting 100% market penetration of LEDs by 2030.

The city will begin the program to replace its 6,500 streetlights this fall. The change is expected to take about 18 months, and will likely pay for itself in 9 years.

Existing streetlights (excluding ornamental lights) consume nearly five million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which costs $500,000, and account for a large portion of $1 million a year in maintenance costs.

The 3,000K warm white LED has been endorsed by the International Dark Sky Association, a non-profit organization with a mission “to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting,” reports Cleverley.

Photo courtesy of City of Victoria.