Southern California Edison outlines LED streetlight replacement plan for Agoura Hills; council to review contract in February

A Southern California Edison representative presented the utility’s LED streetlight replacement program to the Agoura Hills City Council on Jan. 22, describing the benefits—energy savings, improved color rendering and dark-sky compliance—and outlining options for lights SCE owns in the city.

The SCE presenter said the utility has installed roughly 370,000 LEDs across its territory and recommended the GE Profile fixtures, available in several color temperatures (2700K, 3000K and 4000K). The consultant noted the county controls a much larger number of fixtures within Agoura Hills’ jurisdiction (about 1,972 county-accounted lights compared with 21 lights under the city’s account), and noted any city preference for color temperature (for example, 2700K versus 3000K) would be honored for city-account lights and recommended to the county for county-account fixtures.

The presentation included a simple savings estimate for the 21 city-owned lights: about $1,800 in annual savings during the recovery period and approximately $2,225 in annual savings after the tariff recovery ends. SCE described the tariff recovery mechanism as a 20-year charge that covers upfront material and installation costs and is collected through the utility tariff rather than a separate bill line item.

Council members asked about several implementation details: which lights in Agoura Hills are owned by the city, which by the county, and who controls overpass and Caltrans-owned fixtures. Staff clarified that several lights (for example on the Avenida La Pera/overpass) are under Caltrans, while other fixtures on Agora Road are city-owned. Council members and the SCE representative discussed color temperature trade-offs—4,000K for some traffic control lights versus 2700K or 3000K for residential areas—and the city’s past sign ordinance lighting research.

Council member Deborah Klein Lopez asked that SCE and staff incorporate previous local sign- and lighting-research work when the item returns for formal council authorization. The city’s public works subcommittee will review sample fixtures and sites; staff said the item will return to council in February with a 2-page contract document authorizing SCE to proceed if council chooses.

The council did not take a formal vote on a contract at the Jan. 22 meeting; staff and SCE specified next steps: the public works subcommittee will visit sample installations, staff will coordinate with the county accounts, and SCE will return with a contract authorization and cost schedule for council consideration in February. Council members asked that the February packet include the PowerPoint presentation and sample fixture locations.