After Short Delay, Pittsfield's LED Streetlight Conversion Ramping Up
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After a short delay, workers are changing out about 60 street light fixtures a day to LED lights, and that is expected to double soon.
City Engineer Ricardo Morales said that as of Friday, more than 850 lights have been switched out. But that is a slower start than planned after the city had to find a new manufacturer for the drivers of many of the units.
Morales said the c1 fixture drivers were delayed in delivery and instead of waiting out the delay, the city opted to get the material from a different manufacturer instead.
The state, which will pay 30 percent of the cost, initially required the work to be completed by the end of March but has agreed to give another month.
"We did receive an extension on the time. We have until the end of April," Morales said.
Pine Ridge Technologies had two installers working on changing out the lights but without all of the correct materials, work was slower than expected as workers had to jump from location to location and will now have to cycle back. However, last Tuesday the drivers were delivered and the installation will ramp up.
"We are adding two more people to do the installation. It's going to move twice as fast," Morales said.
Morales said just having two workers on the project led to some 700 fixtures being changed out in 13 work days. Now with all of the pieces allowing for a more efficient process, Morales said each two-man crew should be able to install 80 a day.
This week workers re-started on the westside, backfilling the lights they couldn't change the first time, and will move clockwise among the inner part of the city. Later the workers will do another loop on the outer parts of the city.
Overall, the city is replacing 4,708 Cobrahead streetlights and 471 ornamental lights throughout the city.
The City Council had approved $3 million for the project in 2017 and 30 percent of the installation cost is expected to be paid through a Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources grant. In fall 2017, Gov. Charlie Baker's administration announced a $260,227 award to the city for the project.
Though the exact energy savings haven't been determined yet but early projections estimated the switch to more energy-efficient bulbs will reduce bills by around $250,000 per year.
The city released a link to a map allowing residents to follow along with the progress.
Tags: street lights,
