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Date: 12/21/2020
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Verizon, in collaboration with RealTerm Energy, is working with West Springfield to equip 2,253 LED streetlights across the entire city.
The lights, according to Mayor William Reichelt, will incorporate Light Sense smart controls and integrated Verizon LTE connectivity.
“Currently, the town is spending over half a million dollars per year for street light electricity,” said Reichelt in a social media post. “That is expected to be reduced by up to 50 percent with the installation of the new LED lighting combined with Verizon smart control.”
In a video advertising the service, Verizon emphasized how their “intelligent lighting” solution offers a city “full control over its street lights, and provides energy savings, asset management, and greater operational efficiency through the agility of a managed service.”
Verizon’s lighting solution, according to the video, can also transform LED lighting into “smart technology hubs that can capture and transmit data.” This data would help monitor energy consumption, and reduce maintenance costs.
The Light Sense mode, which is the mode West Springfield is using, offers adaptive lighting adjustment, and remote monitoring and control of the lights. There are no separate data charges either, according to the video.
“As a Green Community, we are working on reducing energy consumption and costs,” said Scott Moore, the director of the Central Maintenance Department in West Springfield. “We have already converted most of the town buildings to LED lighting, and this was our next logical goal of a 20 percent reduction over five years.”
According to Moore, prior to the streetlight project, West Springfield was at 17 percent energy reduction over four years. He believes that this streetlight project will put the city over that 20 percent benchmark.
“In addition to the energy reduction, there are substantial cost savings,” said Moore. “The project should net over $300,000 per year in savings, and the maintenance costs are far lower than conventional streetlights.”
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) teamed up to provide a rapid retrofit grant for this project, according to Moore. They “vetted” the contractors and provided lighting options.
Moore said that the grant, combined with utility incentives, will pay for more than 60 percent of the project costs.
“The LED lights are far more efficient than the old high pressure sodium and mercury vapor lights,” said Moore. “They last much longer and provide better lighting.”
Moore said Verizon’s portion of the project was introducing and providing the smart controls, which allows the town remote access to schedule, dim or increase lighting, and identify outages.
“Smart street lighting can also help improve safety and quality of life in your community, and it integrates easily with traffic, parking, and public safety solutions,” according to a statement included under Verizon’s advertisement for the lights.
For more information regarding the LED lights, visit https://www.verizon.com/business/products/internet-of-things/connected-smart-cities-communities/intelligent-lighting.
The project is complete, Moore said, aside from a few needed repairs to existing wiring.