ATCO Electric discusses LED street light plans

Nov 28, 2017 | 11:05 AM

A citywide LED street lighting program is being mulled over for Grande Prairie.

ATCO Electric presented an update on a plan at a Tuesday Infrastructure & Protective Services Committee meeting.

Larry Gibson, Manager of Distribution Operations for South Peace District at the company, told the committee the program could save $174,000 a year.

It was an intriguing thought to city councillor and chair of the committee Jackie Clayton.

“I think that LED is a big opportunity for any municipality. As to individual homeowners, we’ve seen the change to LED lighting,” said Clayton.

“I think it brings a huge energy efficiency opportunity.”

But Clayton says it’s important to keep the costs of such an endeavour in mind.

“Council should always look at cost-savings. I guess my concern would be although the overall cost-savings annually appears quite significant, there are initial cost implications,” she said.

“We definitely have to weigh the pros and cons (of the project.)”

The presentation also gave new councillors the chance to review the proposal.

“ATCO does a great job of continually updating council on what’s happening in our municipality,” she said.

“I think this is great for new councillors to see what LED opportunities there are.”

Council will discuss the LED lighting plan in the new year.

by Jordan Parker