Staff from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Energy Assistance are developing a technical assistance program to help municipalities in First Energy territories to evaluate and implement LED street lighting technology as a way to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs.

Municipal street lighting is often cited as a municipality’s highest utility cost, but it is also one of the best opportunities for cost-effective technology upgrades.

Currently, there is no coordinated effort outside of Philadelphia to help municipal officials evaluate or implement LED street lighting.

On March 10, representatives from FirstEnergy, PennFuture, the PA Association of Boroughs, Northwest and Southwest Planning commissions, and the Pittsburgh  Green Building Alliance met at DEP's Northwest Regional Office to provide input and solicit advice on the scale and scope of a potential LED lighting program.

The meeting resulted in a strategy and outline for municipal workshops and a preliminary plan for providing lighting system analyses for individual municipalities to serve as case studies.

The Public Utility Commission is expected to approve widespread availability of LED street lights by May 2015.

(Reprinted from the March 19 DEP News. Click Here to sign up for your own copy and back issues.)

3/23/2015