LED TRAFFIC LIGHT INSTALLATION REACHES MILESTONE WITH ENERGY COST SAVINGS ALREADY BEING SEEN
October 21, 2009 -- Mayor Bill White and Public Works and Engineering Director Michael Marcotte announced today that more than half of the City of Houston’s 2,426 signaled traffic intersections (1,700) have been retrofitted with LED lights and are already beginning to show cost savings. The remainder of the intersections are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
Energy calculations performed on 127 intersections, based on energy consumption before the improvements, show that on an annual basis they were using 1,588,555 kWh (kilowatts per hour) of energy each year at a cost of $190,626 per year. It’s projected that the monthly usage with the new LEDs will be about 405,070 kWh of energy for the same intersections, which represents a 74% decrease in energy consumption. The projected annual cost for these intersections after the conversion is expected to be about $48,728.
“This investment makes sense as an ongoing cost savings for taxpayers and as a way to cut back on our overall energy usage,” said Mayor White.
“We could also see additionally ongoing savings in our operational cost due to not having to frequently change out light bulbs because of the longer life the LED technology offers,” said Mike Marcotte, Director of the Department of Public Works and Engineering.
When expanded across the entire City to include intersections that have already been converted and additional energy savings of 22,607,359 kWh saving $2,712,883 per year could also be seen.
Cost savings associated with the entire retro-fit project include; a CenterPoint Rebate Received - $148,424, anticipated CenterPoint rebate this year (FY 2010) of $700,000 with a total anticipated rebate of $848,000. Approximate Total Cost of LED Implementation - $14,420,613.
