Summary
With a strategic goal of reducing energy costs, maintenance, and carbon emissions while seeking out more sustainable infrastructure funding, the City of Pendleton, OR partnered with Ameresco to replace existing streelights with light-emitting diode (LED) technology. Ameresco installed approximately 1,005 new energy efficient LED fixtures. The EaaS project is budget-neutral with energy savings fully funding the replacements at zero cost to the taxpayers/ratepayers of the City of Pendleton.
“Our citizens are very happy with the new streetlights. The new LEDs have a slightly different color appearing more white than yellow, and direct light differently, enhancing visibility for drivers. The projected energy and maintenance savings will fully fund the project resulting in no cost to taxpayers and no up-front capital.”
– Bob Patterson
Public Works Director, City of Pendleton, OR
310 Metric Tons
Annual Carbon Reduction
1,005
Utility-Owned Streetlights
~$75,000
Annual Utility Bill Savings
~500,000 kWh
Annual Energy Savings
Customer Benefits
This LED replacement project advances the City’s goal of reducing Pendleton’s energy costs, maintenance, and carbon emissions while seeking out more sustainable infrastructure funding for buildings, roads, and utilities. Additional benefits of the project include:
- Reduced streetlight infrastructure energy consumption by more than 50%
- Annual total energy savings of nearly 500,000 kWh
- Carbon emissions reduced by 310 metric tons per year
- Lower maintenance costs as LED fixtures do not have disposable components requiring regular replacement
- Improved illumination and enhanced peripheral vision for drivers to improve detection of obstacles in the road
- Budget-neutral financing requiring no upfront capital by the City
Solution
The City of Pendleton and Ameresco worked with the City’s utility, Pacific Power & Light, to develop a new standard for warm-white color temperature LED fixtures as part of this project. The LED lights may appear brighter and more white or blue in color compared to the existing yellow, high pressure sodium lights, while producing less than half the lumens. The project included:
- 1,005 LED lighting fixtures
- Fixtures rated 3,000 Kelvin correlated color temperature (CCT)
- Energy as a Service (EaaS) financing structure, where Ameresco owns and maintains the lighting fixtures
