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For Immediate Release: 11/19/20 John B. Rhodes, Chair
Contact: James Denn | James.Denn@dps.ny.gov | (518) 474-7080
20101/ 20-E-0322; 20-E-0323; 20-E-0355; 20-E-0359; 20-E-0362; 20-E-0326; 20-E-0319; 20-E-0374; 20-E-0369
November 19, 2020
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PSC Approves Streetlighting Sale to 9 Upstate Municipalities |
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LED Street Lighting Up to 65 Percent More Efficient Than Traditional Lights
Reducing Power Consumption Combats Climate Change
ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission), as part of its continuing work to reduce municipal energy consumption across the State, approved separate requests to sell utility-owned streetlights to nine municipalities in upstate New York totaling $15 million. With the change in ownership, the municipalities can control streetlighting and install their own state-of-the-art energy efficient lights to lower costs to taxpayers and protect the environment.
“Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has championed municipal government efficiency and encouraged municipalities to have greater control over their energy usage,” said Commission Chair John B. Rhodes. “Implementing LED street-lighting options can play an important role in helping the State achieve its clean-energy goals in support of Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading clean energy initiatives.”
In 2015 Governor Cuomo signed legislation amending the Public Service Law to establish procedures to facilitate the transfer of ownership of complete street lighting systems to municipalities or other government entities. With the change in ownership, municipalities take control of street lighting and have the option to install state-of-the-art, energy efficient lights and new technologies to lower costs to taxpayers and protect the environment by reducing energy consumption. Including today’s decisions, the Commission has approved the sale of over 76,000 streetlights to 39 municipalities. The total value of these streetlights is more than $51.5 million.
Energy efficiency lights, known as LEDs or light-emitting diodes, use significantly less energy than traditional street lighting. The adoption of LED-lighting can save municipalities up to 65 percent of electricity costs for street lighting.
LED-related energy savings can contribute significantly to the State’s energy and environmental goals. In fact, if all of the State’s streetlights were converted to LEDs, the energy savings potential is estimated to be enough electricity for 75,000 average-sized houses. Financial savings could be as great as $28 million per year. Given the opportunity for savings, municipalities across the State have been showing interest in either buying utility-owned streetlighting facilities with the intention of converting to LEDs or working with utilities to convert the utility-owned streetlights within their respective jurisdictions.
For an average municipality, streetlights may account for up to 40 percent of total local government electric energy consumption. Pursuing LED conversions allows local governments to lower municipal energy expenditures while lowering overall emissions from the energy sector, furthering the State’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.
The streetlight sales approved today by the Commission are as follows:
Today’s decisions may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission’s Web site at www.dps.ny.gov and entering Case Numbers 20-E-0322 (Town of Salina); City of Gloversville (20-E-0323); Village of Brockport (20-E-0355); Village of Lima (20-E-0359); Village of Scotia (20-E-0362); City of Tonawanda (20-E-0326); Town of Tonawanda (20-E-0319); Town of Bethel (20-E-0374); and the Village of New Paltz (20-E-0369) in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number". Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission documents may also be obtained from the Commission’s Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.
New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan
Governor Cuomo's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieving its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented ramp-up of clean energy including a $3.9 billion investment in 67 large-scale renewable projects across the state, the creation of more than 150,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector, a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035, and 1,800 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011. Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while meeting a goal to deliver 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities, and advancing progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 TBtus. |
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