Orillia should watch LED experiment

ORILLIA, ONTARIO - There's an experiment going on in Welland right now to which Orillia should pay close attention.

When the streetlights on Fitch Street in that smallish city come on, they'll use much less electricity than any given stretch of streetlights in Orillia.

Since October, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been casting their glow on Fitch Street.

It's a pilot project which is getting good reviews so far.

The city and Welland Hydro like what they've seen, and the effort has gained the approval of Peter Love, Ontario's chief conservation officer.

In a visit to Welland earlier this week, Love said Fitch Street is the first in Canada, perhaps even the world, to be lit with with LEDs.

"You've made a great step forward," Love said during his stop.

LEDs use less than half the electricity of a standard streetlight, and last about three times as long.

Welland city officials estimate converting the entire city to LED streetlights could save nearly half of the city's annual $350,000 hydro bill for streetlights, and there will be additional savings because the city won't have to replace the bulbs as often. That should strike a chord in Orillia, where the 2007 budget for street lighting is $381,500.

Installing the lights on Fitch cost $41,000.

Welland has also converted its stoplights to LEDs.

Orillia Power Corp. has shown some leadership when it comes to conservation, using LED lights on the giant Christmas tree in front of the Opera House in downtown Orillia, for instance. It is also a leader in creating green energy provincially.

If the lights work in Welland, there is no need for every other municipality to repeat the same test - LEDs should work in any urban setting.

The upfront costs can be tempered by grandfathering the installation of LEDs. With each road reconstruction, make sure the new light standards are LEDs.

As lights need to be replaced, do it with LEDs.

We're living in a new world that requires new ways of thinking and acting - not unlike the new world that Orillia's founders lived in when they harnessed local waterways to create their own electricity.

Related News

germany coal plant

Germany is first major economy to phase out coal and nuclear

BERLIN - German lawmakers have finalized the country's long-awaited phase-out of coal as an energy source, backing a plan that environmental groups say isn't ambitious enough and free marketeers criticize as a waste of taxpayers' money.

Bills approved by both houses of parliament Friday envision shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 and spending some 40 billion euros ($45 billion) to help affected regions cope with the transition.

The plan is part of Germany's `energy transition' - an effort to wean Europe's biggest economy off planet-warming fossil fuels and generate all of the country's considerable energy needs from renewable sources.…

READ MORE

IEA: Electricity investment surpasses oil and gas for the first time

READ MORE

ev charging stations

EVs could drive 38% rise in US electricity demand, DOE lab finds

READ MORE

power lines

How IRENA Study Will Resolve Philippines’ Electricity Crisis

READ MORE

'Unbelievably dangerous': NB Power sounds alarm on copper theft after vandalism, deaths

READ MORE