DUMMERSTON — Selectmen have signed an incentive agreement with Efficiency Vermont to upgrade the town's remaining mercury-vapor streetlights to energy-efficient LED lamps.
Under the agreement, Efficiency Vermont will pay Green Mountain Power outstanding depreciation left on outdated fixtures here, up to $100 per fixture on average, helping defray the cost of upgrading to the next-generation lamp bulbs.
According to Energy Committee Member Stan “Smokey” Howe, presenting the proposal at the Selectboard's Oct. 30 meeting, this spares the town from having to continue paying a monthly tariff on outdated, inefficient equipment, and furthers the aims of the state in widespread LED adoption.
“Most of our fixtures in town are so old there's no depreciation left on them. A few in town are newer fixtures that've been replaced in the past five to 10 years or whatever,” Howe said.
“Efficiency Vermont is pushing to finalize this so that they can finalize their budgets. It's kind of like we get on board with this now or we lose the opportunity,” he added.
Plans for improvements to exterior lighting at the town office, the fire station, and on the path leading up to the voting facility are still undecided, though the energy committee and selectmen are set to tackle that next.
By 2014, more than two-thirds of Vermont's municipal street lights will be upgraded to LED technology, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy noted in a related 2012 study.
According to Efficiency Vermont, eligible lighting technologies provide better-quality light and lower operating costs.
“And, with the special pricing, you can install these high-quality replacement lamps at the same cost as conventional products, helping you meet your customers' increasing demand for environmentally conscious products and services,” the organization says on its website.
In upgrading the town's mercury-vapor streetlights, the energy committee removed the last of three fixtures on its elimination list, according to energy committee meeting minutes.
Howe's Oct. 30 proposal to selectmen also took up installing a building mount fixture on the firehouse, replacing the pole-mounted fixture Green Mountain Power installed.
The current lighting washes the parking lot fairly well, but replacing it with a pole-mounted LED system presents challenges to do with road glare and proximity to high-voltage lines.
A town-owned building-mounted fixture would cost $1,665 or so, Howe estimated, giving selectmen specifications they'd need to send the project out to bid.
The fire department “loves the idea and would love to go with it,” said Howe, adding that such fixtures “are fairly large, but they do a nice job lighting up the area.”
He also said the proposal considers the fact that there's an American flag on the side of the building: “It would be a dual-level fixture: at least the flag wouldn't be without light.”
“You are thorough,” admired Selectboard member Bill Holiday.
Efficiency Vermont is eager to have a commitment from the town that all the upgrades will be in by spring 2014, Howe said. Selectmen suggested more time was needed to present the outlay to town voters.
Howe said the town office parking lot lighting is another project, as is lighting for the pathway along the church to the voting facility. “It's in the works,” he said.
At that point in the meeting, Ruth Barton, a member of the church building and grounds committee, said her committee was taking up the issue of lighting that stretch as well, and recommended the town compare notes with them.
“I know it's dark [there]. We just got through peeling apples late into the evening,” she said.