Twisp replaced 94 streetlights with more-efficient LED lights, which will help the town economize on its electricity bill.
LED lights save money, help with ‘dark sky’ efforts
By Ann McCreary
Twisp has new, more energy-efficient LED streetlights, after older streetlights were replaced last month through a program called “Relight Washington.”
The LED streetlights will save the town money and support “dark sky” efforts to reduce light pollution, said Andrew Denham, Twisp public works director.
The Relight Washington program provided money to small towns in Washington to replace their old streetlight fixtures with the new LED lights. Denham said the program, administered through the state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB), was initiated under the Obama administration to encourage greater energy efficiency. The new LED streetlights are estimated to use about 20 percent less power than the older fixtures.
“With these new lights, their street lighting bill should be less expensive than it has been,” said Derik Groomes, a distribution engineer with the Okanogan County Public Utility District (PUD). The PUD oversaw the installation of the new lights in Twisp and eight other communities in the county.
In Twisp, replacing 94 high-pressure sodium lights on town streets with the LED lights is expected to save the town about $2,236 per year, Groomes said. That represents a 19 percent reduction in lighting costs for the town, he said. Under the Relight Washington program, TIB provided funding for the $37,646 cost of purchasing and installing the lights in Twisp.
The work in Twisp was done during a one-week period last month by a contractor hired by the PUD to switch out the streetlights. The contractor replaced 200-watt high pressure sodium lights with 70-watt LED lights, and 100-watt high pressure sodium lights with 40-watt LED lights. The brighter lights are along more major streets and Highway 20, and the lower wattage lights are on residential areas and side streets.
While the change may have gone unnoticed by some residents, it caught the attention of others, in part because all the lights are initially pre-set at 70 watts. That produced some unexpectedly bright lights in residential areas and resulted in about a dozen complaints from town residents, said Denham.
Lights adjusted
The brightness of the lights can be adjusted, so soon after they were installed, Groomes turned down the brightness in residential areas. “For a couple of weeks it was 70 watts everywhere, so they were noticeably brighter than previously,” Groomes said.
Since the lights were adjusted to 40 watts, complaints have gone away, Denham said. In a few cases, shades were installed on light fixtures to shield light that residents felt was too bright or intrusive.
“We’ve had responses back from people who initially complained, that have been positive” about the new lights, he said.
The new LED lights are “dark sky compliant” and designed to shine downward, rather than broadcasting light upward and contributing to nighttime light pollution. The LED lights have a longer life and require less maintenance, and that means lower costs to the PUD, which serves Twisp, Groomes said.
People may notice a different quality to the light, he said. The sodium lights had a yellowish hue, while the new lights give off a whiter light. “With the new lighting it’s closer to an actual daylight color temperature, so a person should be able to determine colors better in these lights,” Groomes said. The LED fixtures provide an additional safety factor, because animals, people or other objects are more visible in their light, he said.
In addition to Twisp, streetlights were replaced in Oroville, Tonasket, Riverside, Conconully, Omak, Okanogan, Brewster and Pateros. Denham said the towns and cities evaluated fixtures and collectively selected the LED replacements.
A total of 1,355 streetlights were changed to LED lights this year through the Relight Washington program, with an annual savings of $32,255 for the municipalities, Groomes said.
Streetlights in Winthrop and the upper valley, which is served by the Okanogan County Electric Cooperative, were changed to LED fixtures in 2014.
