League City explores buying streetlights, converting to LED to cut costs and improve service

League City council members discussed a proposal to acquire the city's streetlight system and convert fixtures to LED during a March 25 work session, hearing a consultant's estimate that buying the system and converting to LED could reduce annual lighting costs by about $750,000 in the first year and save more than $18 million over 20 years.

The consultant, Neil Tolley of TANCO Lighting, told the council the city currently pays TNMP (Texas-New Mexico Power) and CenterPoint for roughly 5,546 and about 790 fixtures, respectively, and that most TNMP fixtures are older high-pressure sodium units. Tolley said the study modeled five options and found that acquiring the system and converting to LED (option 5) produced the largest savings: "This yielded the best results. In fact, when compared to option 1, option 5, the acquisition and subsequent LED conversion, could reduce your annual lighting cost by over $750,000 in the first year and save more than $18,000,000 over the next 20 years," he said. Tolley estimated the project cost at about $4,700,000 with an ROI of roughly 6.7 years.

Why it matters: Council members framed the discussion as a potential way to lower long-term operating costs, gain local control over lighting design and maintenance, and improve nighttime visibility. David DeKalb, League City's public works manager, said the city currently pays roughly $14.12 per fixture per month under TNMP for energy, maintenance and the…