Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Palouse was selected as one of seven Washington towns to participate in a Transportation Improvement Board pilot program to install LED lights, and study its cost effects.
TIB Executive Director Stevan Gorcester said that LED lights have started to be installed in Washington cities for about five years.
“The energy is lower and the maintenance cost is massively lower,” he said. The lights can last up to 25 years before they begin to dim, thus reducing the need to change bulbs.
“Because of lack of modernized technology, we’re spending more money on streetlights than we need to,” he said.
Starting next summer, Palouse will receive new LED lights for its estimated 150 streetlights, although the actual number will depend on the design of lights.
“It’s a very good thing for Palouse,” said Mayor Michael Echanove. “Switching lighting is a substantial cost for any community. The opportunity to switch technology by light years is tremendous for us.”
The town is one of seven chosen, representing the different utility company arrangements around the state.
Palouse’s power comes from an investor-owned utility; Avista. Its rates are governed by a tariff set by the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission, for which there is none yet set for LED streetlights.
“We were looking for a good example across these different kinds of service providers,” Gorcester explained.
Avista will now need to submit a new rate tariff before the Palouse project can begin.
“We will be asking Avista to apply to charge us less,” said Echanove. “I think it will work out; they are a very proactive company.”
The TIB’s $2 million project for seven towns, with a population of 5,000 or less, is funded by savings from low-bid prices on their road projects throughout the state in 2012.
LED stands for light emitting diode.
“A tiny light bulb that glows instead of burning, basically,” said Gorcester.
The design issue for Palouse may come up whether there is an applicable LED replacement for each type of light they now have, including the “acorn” style lights of downtown.
After the project is completed, the city of Palouse will keep the new lights and the associated savings.
“Palouse should realize a savings in year one,” said Gorcester, noting that for cities paying for the new technology themselves, they see savings in year eight to 10.
“I can’t say enough about the leadership of TIB,” said Echanove. “They are very forward-thinking. Imagine how many towns would want to have this.”
In addition, further savings for Palouse are projected due to the LED lights’ ability to be programmed to reduce light after 1 a.m.
Light can be reduced by shutting off a combination of the 24 small lights in a single LED fixture.
Meters will be installed on the fixtures to record precisely what the difference is in energy use compared to the old lights.
“Before we do this for all the small towns in Washington, we’re going to performance measure to make sure we’re getting the results,” said Gorcester.
He added that most TIB projects which involve replacing streetlights now install the LED lights.
LED fixtures cost between $300-$400 while standard bulbs cost $20-$30, and roughly $150 in total costs to replace a bulb.
Gorcester said that the city of Seattle has seen a savings of 40 to 48 percent of costs on their streetlights since converting to LED lights in the past five years.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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