Editor’s note – In this article written for TAC News, Erik Nickel, Manager of Engineering Services at the City of Welland writes about the bright success of the LED Street Lighting Conversion Program.
Prepared on behalf of the TAC Small Municipalities Task Force, this article is part of a series of feature articles on the issues and challenges affecting smaller communities.
The City of Welland (population of 50,631 - 2011 Census) is located in Southern Ontario between two Great Lakes – Ontario and Erie – in the heart of the Niagara Region. Its roots date back to the hard-working community engaged in a once-thriving industrial and manufacturing economy along the Welland Canal of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
With the large industrial and manufacturing decline occurring over the past decade, the City had to reinvent itself to tackle financial challenges head-on, and explore opportunities to be leaner and more efficient. The Welland LED Street Lighting Conversion Program provided an ideal opportunity.
Following numerous tests and trials occurring over a three-year period, Welland City Council approved the first of a two-phased approach to replace all 6,400 street lights within the City limits in 2011. As a result, Welland is poised to become one of Canada’s first cities to replace all of its existing street lights with LED fixtures.
Photo: Jeremy Carragher
Phase 1 of the project, completed in January 2014, involved the replacement of approximately 4,325 cobra head high-pressure-sodium lamps ranging from 100 to 485 watts with LED fixtures ranging from 30 to 120 watts. On average, a savings of 75% in energy consumption was realized.
Phase 2 of the project, recently approved by Welland City Council, will entail the replacement of approximately 2,075 post top fixtures (i.e. decorative, non-cobra head fixtures) ranging from 70 to 150 watts with LED fixtures ranging from 27 to 56 watts. This will average 60% savings in energy consumption.
Conversion Program Benefits
Beyond reducing energy consumption, the City’s unique maintenance and financing arrangements with the service provider, SSL Energy Solutions (SSLES), constitute a huge benefit. The contract includes a 15-year “bumper to bumper” maintenance/warranty. As a result, the City is free of all maintenance aspects and costs with respect to lighting hardware, once installed. Annually this has proved to save approximately $160,000 in maintenance costs alone.
The City has entered into two 15-year performance contracts with SSLES using a low interest loan (less than three percent) from Infrastructure Ontario (IO) totaling $2.4 million for phase 1, and $1.2 million for phase 2, each repayable over a 10-year period. Energy and maintenance savings over the 15-year contract generate enough revenue to repay the IO loan, the interest and contract progress payments to SSLES, at no net increased cost to the City.
By utilizing incremental savings as the funding source for this project, even after loan repayments, the City of Welland is expected to realize a total of $3.7 million cumulative net savings over the life of the project, beginning as early as the first year, possibly more given the trend for increasing electricity rates.
For additional information on the City of Welland street lighting initiatives, visit the Canadian Urban Institute LightSavers website or contact the author.
Thank you to our Premier Sponsors
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