SHELBY – The city of Shelby will take a step forward in saving money and the environment by replacing city street lights.
Council passed a resolution on Monday authorizing the mayor to advertise for bids and enter into a contract for the LED Street Light Purchase Project. According to John Ensman, director of Shelby Municipal Utilities, the city will be replacing 1,088 street lights by the end of 2018.
“The ultimate goal of this project would be to help reduce the energy consumed by the city of Shelby, and hopefully stabilize the electric rates,” Ensman said.
The city first began converting its street lights to LED lights back in 2013. Currently the majority of street lights in Shelby are Mercury Vapor High Pressure Sodium Lights, which would be replaced with Light Emitting Diode lights, or LEDs.
Ensman stated 65 street lights on Main Street and in the business sector on Gamble Street have already been replaced with LED lights. The decorative lampposts on Shelby’s Grand Boulevard will not be replaced.
“We’d have a grand total of 619,137 kilowatt hours saved within a year’s time,” Ensman explained. “It’s a big drop when you look at the system we currently have, which is 791,175 annually. There’s quite a bit of savings in with this.”
Less kilowatt hours means less money spent on electricity. Ensman estimated the kilowatt hours saved would save the city of Shelby $71,850 annually on electricity.
In terms of the project timeline, Ensman estimated the project would be complete by the end of next year. Shelby’s current street lights would be replaced with 41-watt GE fixture lights at approximately $160 per fixture, with a total project estimate coming in at $175,000.
“The return on investment with this would be right around 2.5 years,” Ensman said.
Shelby City Council unanimously approved moving forward with the LED Street Light Purchase Project. Councilman Nathan Martin touted the city’s savings on electric use and money in the long term.
“We’re saving money not just on the power usage, we’re saving money on the maintenance,” Martin said. “It’s not often you’re able to make a decision that is both environmentally friendly but also completely friendly for your pocketbook, and this is one of those times.”
Council also unanimously approved a resolution on Monday authorizing the mayor to advertise for bids and enter into a contract for the Water Meter Purchase Project within the city of Shelby. Councilman Garland Gates pointed out the majority of the city’s water meters and registers were installed in 1987, and are in need of replacement.
“Here’s a case where you have to spend money to make money,” Gates said.
Ensman explained replacing the water meters in the city would make readings more accurate, which in turn would bring more money into the city.
“We know the meters are older and starting to fail, and when they fail they start to slow down,” Ensman said. “The new meters will have a more accurate read of water flowing through the meter, and will actually collect more revenue.”
The Water Meter Purchase Project is estimated to cost around $450,000, and would be complete in the next three years.
