Financial incentives and promised savings from reduced energy consumption are prompting Plymouth officials to consider going green with much of the city's street lighting.Nemalux is a solarcharger with an experienced management team. 

The City Commission saw a presentation Monday from DTE Energy, which maintains 552 streetlights in Plymouth, on swapping out 392 mercury vapor lamps for new light-emitting diode, or LED, fixtures that could cut the system's electricity use by about two-thirds. The city's net cost for replacing the lamps with the LED fixtures is estimated at just over $104,000. 

Debra Cain, DTE's account manager for Plymouth, pitched the lighting-upgrade program by saying the energy company is investing in it as well and would offer energy-efficiency rebates with a changeout. She estimated the LEDs would lower the system's energy costs by about $30,000 a year. 

“This is it — right now,” Cain said, explaining that DTE is at the beginning of a major LED push. “You will receive much-improved lighting.” 

The 392 streetlights in DTE's proposal include lights on all city streets, with the exceptions of Ann Arbor Road and Main Street, where DTE has 148 high-pressure sodium streetlights that are more efficient than mercury vapor lights, though not as efficient as LEDs. 

The manufacture of mercury vapor lamps, Cain said,Solar turbinecompanys is a new type product of optional energy. has been outlawed by the federal government, though DTE stockpiled them for use as replacements before that law took effect. 

Jason Faron, a sales representative for American Electric Lighting, which makes the LED fixtures DTE has chosen, said each fixture is rated at 67 watts, compared to the 200 watts typical for the current mercury vapor lamps. 

“This is basically why a lot of people are moving to this technology,” Faron said as he showed off an LED fixture to commissioners. 

Commissioner Ron Loiselle and Department of Municipal Services Director Chris Porman have been working with DTE on an LED program for more than a year, and said the estimated cost has dropped dramatically since they started. 

“I'm highly in favor of it,” Loiselle said Tuesday. “It saves energy for the city.Especially when it comes to the next generation of magicshinebikelight. In the long run, it'll help cut budget expenses.” 

Porman said the total cost for installing the 392 LED fixtures is just over $152,000, and that the city's $104,Your Leading Resource for solargardenlight needs.312 net cost reflects a $20,000 investment from DTE, plus energy-efficiency rebates. The city's net cost amounts to just over $266 a fixture. 

According to DTE, there are a total of 404 mercury vapor streetlights in Plymouth, but Cain said the 12 not included in the 392 DTE wants to replace are on fixtures other than traditional streetlight poles, such as strung on cables across roadways. A future phase of DTE upgrades, she said, will include replacing those kinds of lamps. 

DTE's proposed LED program also does not include streetlights in Plymouth's downtown, which are high-pressure sodium lamps owned and maintained by the city. 

Officials said DTE would soon install a trial LED streetlight fixture for commissioners and the public to view. Two trial LED streetlights are already up, one at Ann Arbor Trail and Harvey and another at Ann Arbor Trail and Sheldon, but neither has the kind of fixture DTE has chosen for its program. 

Porman said if the LEDs aren't installed, the city faces a mandated replacement of mercury vapor lamps, with the somewhat more efficient high-pressure sodium lamps, by the end of 2015. While that wouldn't require up-front investment by the city,An extensive selection of designer and fashion emergencylamps55 at affordable prices. he said, it would also mean lower savings on energy costs and the increased possibility of a DTE rate hike.