Ventnor plans to replace all of its streetlights with LED bulbs.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR The boardwalk and Titus Field already has them. Chances are you have them installed in lighting fixtures around the house. Now the city is moving to become even more green by installing LED or light emitting diode bulbs in all its overhead cobra streetlights.
On Thursday, April 14, the Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to enter a $1.09 million agreement with Atlantic City Electric to replace more than a thousand 150-watt high pressure sodium bulbs with LED bulbs, which are brighter, less costly to power and maintain, and have a much longer lifespan. Funding for the energy savings project was authorized in Bond Ordinance 2021-014.
According to Commissioner of Public Works Lance Landgraf, the project is the result of a study performed by DCO Energy, which performed an Energy Savings Plan. The final report was issued on April 8, 2021, but the effort to go green has already started to generate savings, he said.
The lights on the boardwalk were replaced the first year we were in office, Landgraf said. LEDs have already been installed at Titus Field and they are much brighter.
The Energy Savings Plan is the core of the Energy Savings Improvement Program process. If the city self-funded all the recommendations in the plan, it would cost about $8.2 million and generate a 43% savings on utilities, as well as reducing carbon emissions by 43%.
DCO will partner with Atlantic City Electric to do the replacement of 1,167 cobra streetlight head fixtures to accept LED bulbs at a cost of $1,096,231. In its report, DCO estimated the cost at $1.5 million with a projected annual savings on the cost of electricity at about $232,530 or about $16,000 per month. The city would recoup the cost within 6.7 years.
The streetlights are owned by Atlantic City Electric, but taxpayers cover the cost of keeping them lit at night. The city spent $641,455 last year on the cost of electricity at all facilities, including the streetlights.
Ventnor will be charged less for energy used associated with the LED lights an additional average savings of $2,800 per month, the audit states.
Light meter readings will be taken throughout the city to ensure proper lighting levels, it said.
Landgraf said the city also plans to install a solar array on the roof of the Public Works building when the roof is replaced.
The plan was designed to save on the cost of energy whenever we do a project, he said.
Work could begin on the switchover to LEDs within a few weeks and be completed by fall.
The plan also includes the purchase of two electric vehicles and charging stations that will be installed at City Hall and at the Public Works building, he said.
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