Installation Begins on Energy-Saving LED Streetlights Throughout Village of Port Jefferson

For Immediate Release: 9/15/20

Contact:

Paul DeMichele | paul.demichele@nypa.gov | (914) 390-8186

NYPA Partners with Port Jefferson to Install more than 1,100 LED Streetlights

 

Governor’s Statewide Smart Street Lighting NY Program Calls for 500,000 Streetlights to Be Converted to LED Technology by 2025

 

WHITE PLAINS—The New York Power Authority is partnering with the Village of Port Jefferson to install energy-efficient LED streetlights throughout the village as part of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Smart Street Lighting NY program. The energy efficiency project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 500 metric tons a year—the equivalent of taking more than 100 cars off the road. Smart Street Lighting NY is a statewide program that calls for at least 500,000 streetlights throughout the state to be replaced with LED technology by 2025. The program advances Governor Cuomo’s Green New Deal, a nation-leading clean energy and jobs agenda that will aggressively put New York State on a path to economy-wide carbon neutrality. The installation will begin this month and comply with all Covid-19 precautions outlined in the Governor’s NY Forward plan.

 

The nearly $2.4 million upgrade, implemented and financed by the Power Authority, includes the replacement of more than 1,100 decorative and cobra head style streetlights throughout the village with energy-saving LED fixtures. Additionally, the village will be installing SMART technology throughout their community to enhance public safety and manage the village more efficiently. As part of the project, the Power Authority will be replacing more than 700 additional interior and exterior lighting fixtures at village buildings and parks. NYPA is providing Port Jefferson with $225,000 in SMART city funding grants to support the project.

 

“NYPA is working with municipalities across New York to modernize their streetlight fixtures and move the state into the future,” said Gil Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO. “The replacement of more than 1,100 streetlights in Port Jefferson is a demonstration of the state’s steadfast commitment to fighting climate change and saving taxpayer money through innovative energy programs.”

 

“This project is a win-win for the environment and the village, with the expected reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as well as the significant savings the village will realize in terms of energy costs and maintenance once the energy-efficient LED lights are installed,” said Mayor Margot Garant. “The Village of Port Jefferson is proud to be among the first municipalities on Long Island to undertake such a project.”

 

The city will benefit from a new asset management system to monitor and control the entire streetlight system, providing localized dimming options and outage reporting. The new fixtures will also create individual hubs for future SMART technology additions.

 

NYPA is working with cities, towns, villages and counties throughout New York to fully manage and implement a customer’s transition to LED streetlight technology. NYPA provides upfront financing for the project, with payments to NYPA made in the years following from the cost-savings created by the reduced energy use of the LED streetlights, which are 50 to 65 percent more efficient than alternative street lighting options.

 

Through this statewide street lighting program, NYPA’s government customers are provided a wide-array of lighting options to help meet their community’s individual needs, including specifications on the lights to incorporate SMART technology, which can be used for dozens of other functions, such as cameras and other safety features, weather sensors, Wi-Fi and energy meters.

 

To further advance the Governor’s effort to replace existing New York street lighting, NYPA announced earlier this year a new maintenance service to provide routine and on-call maintenance services for LED street lighting fixtures installed by NYPA throughout the state. The new service will be available to municipalities that have engaged NYPA to implement a LED street lighting conversion and have elected to install an asset management controls system on their street lighting system, reducing the number of failures and repairs needed after the installation is complete.

 

NYPA has installed—or is in the process of installing—more than 90,000 LED streetlights at municipalities across the state. To learn more about the Smart Street Lighting NY program, visit the program webpage on NYPA’s website.

 

 

New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan

Governor Cuomo's nation-leading climate plan is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State builds back better as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the CLCPA, New York is on a path to reach its mandated goals of economy wide carbon neutrality and achieving a zero-carbon emissions electricity sector by 2040, faster than any other state. It builds on New York's unprecedented ramp-up of clean energy including a $3.9 billion investment in 67 large-scale renewable projects across the state, the creation of more than 150,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector, a commitment to develop over 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035, and 1,800 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011. New York's Climate Action Council is working on a scoping plan to build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at

least 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments benefit disadvantaged communities, and advancing progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 TBtus.

 

About NYPA

NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the nation, operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. More than 80 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. For more information visit www.nypa.gov and follow us on Twitter @NYPAenergy, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.