Avista moving to LED lights

A new light will be shining in Avista’s Washington and Idaho service area as the company replaces nearly 30,000 company-owned streetlights with energy efficient LED lights over five years.

Updating to LED streetlights provides advantages to the public, customers and the environment as they use about 50 percent less energy than traditional high-pressure sodium lights, while lasting 2-3 times longer and providing better light quality for motorists and pedestrians.

Avista is on track to upgrade 3,000 of its streetlights in Washington by the end of 2015 and expects to launch the program in Idaho in 2016. As current streetlights burn out, they will be replaced with LED technology. Avista-owned area lights and decorative streetlights are not included in the program at this time.

“When Avista completes the transition to LED technology for company-owned streetlights, the energy savings are expected to be enough each night to power about 2,300 homes. The energy savings will help Avista balance its load growth, while also providing savings through reduced maintenance, equipment, material and other costs associated with continued use of 1980s-era high pressure sodium lights,” said Don Kopczynski, Avista’s vice president of energy delivery.

In addition to Avista’s planned streetlight change-out project, the company is also participating in the Relight Washington program which was recently launched by Washington state’s Transportation Improvement Board. Through the Relight Washington program, funding is provided directly to small cities owning their own streetlights, helping them convert to LED lights and benefit from the energy saving technology. As part of the program, Avista will help administer a portion of the $6 million in statewide grants from the Transportation Improvement Board that will help qualifying small cities using Avista-owned streetlights to benefit from LED technology.

More information about Avista’s LED change-out program is available at http://www.avistautilities.com/streetlights. Information on Relight Washington is available through the State of Washington Transportation Improvement Board at http://www.tib.wa.gov.