LED streetlights: Bright idea for St. Paul?

St. Paul is trying to take on a whole new light.

Drive down Iowa Avenue in the Como neighborhood these nights, and one block shines brighter than the others. That's because the city is testing light-emitting diode, or LED, lamps in the streetlights. They're whiter, brighter and, city officials hope, cheaper to maintain.

As St. Paul fashions itself an eco-friendly image, it's following the lead of Anchorage, Alaska, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Austin, Texas, in testing LED technology to save money and use less energy when lighting city streets. It's a relatively new exploration that's catching on around the continent, and only a few other smaller cities in Minnesota have dabbled in LED streetlights.

LED technology has been around for decades and is commonly used in video screens, signs and traffic signals. It has been tested for more general and demanding uses -- such as in streetlights -- in the past several years.

"We're doing it for the environment, to help be cost-effective, and we also want to be a leader in green manufacturing and green technology," said Anne Hunt, St. Paul's environmental policy director. Each year, St. Paul spends about $8.5 million on electricity and natural gas and $3 million on fuel for city activities, she said.

The city is going through a cash crunch, so any savings are helpful.

The use of LEDs in traffic signals and walk signs -- begun in 2003 -- has saved St. Paul $85,000 in labor costs and about $180,000 in electricity, Hunt said.

Raised by citizens

Council Member Lee Helgen, who lives about a block from the test area, said residents contacted him about a year ago after hearing about the program in Ann Arbor. They suggested St. Paul should look into it.

"There's a great potential for energy savings," he said.

There's more than potential, if what manufacturers and other municipalities say is true. They say the advantages to using LEDs are:

• A major -- typically 50 percent -- reduction in energy use

• Less maintenance

• No mercury

• Less heat produced when illuminated

The biggest disadvantages at this point are costs and getting the desired color and lighting effects, such as how broadly the light is cast on the ground. A recent U.S. Department of Energy study of a streetlight experiment in Oakland, Calif., concluded that LEDs show great energy-saving potential but cost too much right now to be economically feasible. Incentives by utility companies or manufacturers might help spur broader acceptance and lower costs, the report said.

Of course, Ann Arbor energy coordinator David Konkle pointed out, improvements are made every three months. "They get better and better," he said.

Comparison shopping

Almost all the streetlights in St. Paul use high-pressure sodium lamps. They provide a warm, yellow light when compared with the white light of the LEDs that seems to take on a blue hue as it moves away from the lantern.

The current lamps cost about $70 each and last for 24,000 hours, versus $400 to $500 each for LEDs that last 50,000 hours, St. Martin said. It costs $100 per hour to change a lamp, a job that could take 30 to 60 minutes.

St. Paul has set aside $20,000 to study various lighting options around the city, and St. Martin said an LED test is planned for use in the globe-styled street lights downtown. He said his department is also looking at other technologies aside from LEDs, such as induction lighting.

"With emerging technology," St. Martin said, "you don't want to buy in early."

Don't count neighbor Carol Schubring a fan. She's all for saving money and using less energy, she said, but the lights just aren't bright enough on the ground for her.

"I just don't like them," she said.

Lighting level is the biggest concern in St. Paul right now, St. Martin said.

Swing by and check out the lights for yourself. Send your input to PW-LEDlights@ci.stpaul.mn.us.