The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) has approved an application by FortisAlberta to convert existing streetlights in 130 Alberta communities to LED fixtures.
“This is a huge win for our municipal customers who have been seeking a viable and cost-effective option for their existing streetlights,” says Don Hughes, Director, Business Development.
As one of the communities receiving the conversion, Chestermere will see 492 lights converted from High Pressure Sodium bulbs (HPS) to more energy efficient LED technology.
The conversions are slated to begin July 25 with the work scheduled to wrap up in Chestermere by Aug. 12.
In a release, FortisAlberta stated that the new LED lighting will provided several benefits to the city.
“LED technology offers many benefits, including reduced energy consumption, resulting in lower costs for our customers,” said FortisAlberta Communications Advisor Natasha Russell in the release.
The current HPS bulbs emit an orange light while the new LED bulbs will emit more of a white light.
The white light offers a higher quality of illumination which FortisAlberta claims will resulting in improved safety.
Addressing concerns that have been raised about the blue/white quality of many LED lights, FortisAlbeta is using an LED bulb with a warmer colour of light with the result being less blue light exposure.
Another benefit for local stargazers is that the new fixtures will be dark sky friendly with no upwards lighting.
FortisAlberta initially applied to the AUC to complete these conversions in April of 2016.
