Submitted by City of Olympia
From now through January, Olympia’s city-owned streetlights will be converted from existing HPS (High Pressure Sodium) to new Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology. A contract firm, the Light Doctor, is performing the work. The general schedule is as follows:
- Westside October
- Southeast November
- Northeast December
- Downtown January
Olympia has about 3,200 city-owned streetlights located primarily along major roadways and in newer neighborhoods. In addition, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) owns about 1,300 streetlights in Olympia, which are typically on wooden poles. The PSE-owned lights are not being converted at this time, although PSE is supporting the City project with energy savings rebates.
Funding for the project is a combination of City money, a $500,000 State Department of Commerce Energy Efficiency Grant, and PSE energy savings rebates with an estimated $375,000 value.
Benefits of LED Technology
- Increased reliability. LEDs have an extremely low failure rate, which means less outages and reduced maintenance costs.
- Reduced power consumption. We estimate savings of $174,000 per year.
- Enhanced pedestrian safety. LED light is focused more directly toward the ground.
- Better light quality. Colors are more identifiable due to the neutral color of LED lights.