PHILADELPHIA, PA, August 8, 2023— City leadership and the Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) announced the kickoff of construction for the Philly Streetlight Improvement Project, a citywide project to replace and connect approximately 130,000 streetlights into a network of more efficient, longer-lasting, remotely-controlled light emitting diode (LED) lights.
The 24-month construction project will reduce street lighting energy use by more than 50 percent and is the single largest energy conservation project the City has undertaken, reducing municipal carbon emissions by more than 9 percent. The energy savings avoided operations and maintenance costs, and energy efficiency rebates will realize savings over time for the City, making the $91.2MM citywide improvement project cost-neutral over the 20-year financing period. The project bond, issued by PEA, is the City’s first Sustainability Bond, per an independent external review and opinion by Kestrel, an Approved Verifier accredited by the Climate Bonds Initiative.
The upgraded LED luminaires are designed to be fully controllable through remote monitoring on a secure network known as a Lighting Management System (LMS), providing the City instantaneous updates on outages and the ability to dim and brighten fixtures. The improved reliability and performance will support public safety by improving the ability for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists to see at night.
The project will prioritize LED installation in neighborhoods where public safety needs are highest, as identified through nighttime crime data, nighttime vehicle crash data, 57 Blocks Initiative data, and Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Indicators of Potential Disadvantage. Fixtures are designed to have a warm color temperature, a diffused lens for enhanced visual comfort, and “boosted” lumen outputs in priority installation areas. The citywide design reflects a data-driven approach that incorporated community feedback received from surveys taken across 15 trial installations.
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