LED Streetlight Conversion Begins in West Gresham's Wilkes East Neighborhood

LED streetlight, Capri Terrace

Monday, May 19th, the Capri Terrace area of Wilkes East began receiving new LED streetlights -- replacing the old familiar 'pink glow' high-pressure sodium lights. The new streetlights are white, bright and money saving, but some folks say they also create more shadows at night.

What a bright idea: Gresham switching to LED streetlights

Source: Gresham Outlook website

Cost to keep lights on will go from $600,000 a year to $100,000 with new program

In yet another green effort to save energy and money, Gresham is starting a major streetlight replacement project, which will convert the city’s streetlights to high-efficiency LED bulbs. The move will save approximately $500,000 a year in costs.

Cities across the nation — even the globe — are turning to light-emitting diode lights as a way to save money and the environment. Portland General Electric is switching 25,000 of its lights in five counties and 47 cities — including Sandy and Estacada — to this more energy-efficient option this year and throughout 2014.

Portland is drafting a five-year plan to make the same switch by 2018, following the likes of big cities such as Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, San Jose, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas and Chicago.

“They last longer, use less energy and the light looks better,” said Peter Koonce, Portland’s division manager for signals and streetlights.

John Dorst, who recently retired as Gresham’s deputy director for the Department of Environmental Services, couldn’t agree more. “This is actually a great thing for Gresham,” Dorst said. “It is more sustainable economically and environmentally.”

Last spring, Gresham budgeted to trade its traditional high-power sodium lights, which cast a yellowish tint, for the brighter light of LEDs. Read more.

Related Content

• Portland will replace all 55,000 streetlights with blue-tinted LEDS (Oregonian, Feb 05, 2014)