Monroe seeks environmental grant to convert street lights to LED

The Monroe City Council approved a motion Monday to submit a grant request to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) to covert street lights around the city to light-emitting diode (LED) lamps.

If approved, the grant would cover up to 80% of the capital costs the city would incur in the conversion.

The grant request was recommended by the city's Department of Engineering and Public Services to take advantage of a new Carbon Reduction Program through the federal 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program provides funding to develop projects and strategies to reduce carbon emissions.

The department's director, Patrick Lewis, said the grant functions as a reimbursement, which requires the city to pay upfront costs.

DTE Energy estimates the cost of the project to be $310,407.71. Of that amount, the grant would cover $248,326.17 with the remaining $62,081.54 paid by the city.

However, the energy cost savings of the LED bulbs would quickly absolve the city of that amount, Lewis said.

"The estimated energy savings is about $82,000 per year. So our payback period is about nine months," he said. "I think that's a pretty good deal. And then that's savings we'll see every year.

"This is about as big of a no-brainer as I've come across in my days here."

The city currently counts 1,048 lights using high-pressure sodium fixtures and another 26 that use mercury vapor.

In 2013 and 2014, the city converted 506 street lights from mercury vapor to LED.

"Our lighting costs are about what they were 10 years ago partially because of that program," Lewis said. "The fact that we upgraded those lenses made a big difference."

The lower-wattage LED lights are more energy efficient and illuminate a larger area in a more appealing white light rather than the orange hue of high-pressure sodium or the blue of mercury vapor. Mercury vapor also contains toxic mercury.

SEMCOG will review grant applications and award funding in March.