Chicago has completed a massive streetlight modernisation project that has improved the quality of night-time visibility throughout the city and is projected to save taxpayers US$100 million in electricity costs over the next ten years.

The Chicago Smart Lighting Program (CSLP) – primarily executed by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) – replaced 280,000 high-pressure sodium lights with new LED lights that use less energy and can alert work crews if they burn out.

Wireless nodes are attached to each fixture to create a network that detects streetlight outages, automatically creates repair tickets, and assigns repair crews to the location.

The more efficient lights have already cut the city’s electricity bill in half – saving more than US$8 million last year, in addition to the US$34 million in rebates it received from utilities firm ComEd for switching the lights.

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