The City of Delta is looking at making the switch to LED lighting for all its street lights and recreation facilities.
Mayor George Harvie brought forward two motions that were unanimously approved by Delta council May 13 that call for staff to investigate the cost to switch all Delta street lights to LED bulbs and for the parks and recreation commission to investigate total LED conversion in all facilities.
Those reports would then come back to council for discussion at a workshop later this year.
“The City of Burnaby reduced their energy consumption by 60 per cent. It cost Burnaby $4.5 million to switch out 11,600 street lights, which were the old high-pressure sodium bulbs,” said Harvie. “The lifetime for a LED bulb in our street lights is 20 years compared to the high-pressure sodium bulb which is only four years. The $4.5 million will be recovered by the City of Burnaby in six years by lowering electricity costs.
“I think it is time we look at some pretty bold investments in our community, especially ones where we recover the costs so quickly. I don’t mind borrowing if the project is one which is going to have positive impacts on our community, especially when it comes to our climate action.”
