Newport Beach, California, prepares for second LED streetlight installation

Newport Beach, California, prepares for second LED streetlight installation
The city of Newport Beach, California, recently completed the first phase of a large-scale LED streetlight installation and is preparing to begin the second phase of the program. The initiative’s first phase included installation of approximately two hundred new LED streetlight fixtures on city streets and the Balboa and Newport Piers. Application specific LED fixtures, including those manufactured by Philips and GE, were installed in the different areas. In residential neighborhoods, the city chose to install decorative post top and cobrahead fixtures, whereas shoebox style LED fixtures were chosen for the two piers. All LED streetlight fixtures replaced existing incandescent and high pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights. The first phase of the project was funded using $852,800 from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program and local funding.



“Phase one has been well received by the city as well as the community. We are already seeing significant energy savings because about half of the existing fixtures were inefficient incandescents. All of the new LED streetlights are metered, so, as we move forward, we will be able to determine accurate energy consumption and savings. We are already seeing over 50% savings in energy consumption,” said Iris Lee, senior civil engineer for the city of Newport Beach. Because of the age of the existing streetlights and technology, the EECBG funded project also included series circuit conversion and pole replacement.



The second phase of the program, awarded in May 2011, will focus solely on residential roadway lighting. The proposed installation includes approximately 155 new GE Evolve and Philips Lumec LED cobrahead fixtures to replace existing incandescent streetlights. Similar to the first phase of the program, this project also includes circuit and pole upgrades. The project is municipally funded and is a continuation of the city of Newport Beach’s streetlight master plan. City officials are conducting pre- and post-audits of both phases in order to calculate precise energy and cost savings.