BETHESDA, MD, January 19, 2009 –- Energy is too precious to waste, and so are taxpayer
dollars, which is why the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, looked for ways to get more bang for its
streetlighting buck. How the city is applying the latest in LED technology to light its streets and
reduce power consumption by 50 percent is among the highlights in the latest edition of
ElectricTV.net.
Across the United States, local governments are slashing budgets, presenting significant
challenges to those entrusted with providing services to the community. The city of Ann Arbor
suffered a 60 percent reduction, spurring the search for areas to cut costs, including the city's power
consumption. Just to light the streets, the city was spending more than $1.4 million a year.
Says Andrew Brix, acting director of the city's energy program, “We're talking about
taxpayer dollars, and the money we spent on streetlights every year was a big chunk of
change.” Rather than simply letting the streets go dark, the city embarked on a pilot program to
replace its 6,600 streetlamps with energy-saving LEDs or Light Emitting Diodes. The measured
result after installing an initial 1,000 LED lights was a decrease in energy use from 120 watts
per fixture to 56. As a result says Brix, “We cut our overall bill in half,” with the savings paying
for the replacement program in just four years.
A joint production of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), ElectricTV.net is the only web TV
program dedicated to reporting the latest developments in the electrical construction and
information systems industries.
Also on this edition of ElectricTV.net is a virtual worksite tour that helps building owners
be more proactive in identifying job hazards; a segment on how NECA/IBEW's unique training
programs are preparing the green workers America needs both today and tomorrow; and a
spotlight on the many advantages a design/build electrical contractor brings to a construction
project.
To view, visit http://electrictv.net/ledstreetlights.aspx.
ABOUT NECA AND IBEW
Through their joint marketing organization – the National Labor-Management Cooperation
Committee (NLMCC) of the organized electrical construction industry – NECA and IBEW
together work to:
• Reach customers with accurate information about the industry; and
• Achieve better internal communication between labor and management.
NECA has provided over a century of service to the $130 billion electrical construction
industry that brings power, light and communication technology to buildings and communities
across the United States. NECA's national office and 119 local chapters advance the industry
through advocacy, education, research and standards development.
With 725,000 members who work in a wide variety of fields – including construction,
utilities, telecommunications and manufacturing – IBEW is among the largest member unions in
the AFL-CIO. IBEW was founded in 1891.
For more information, visit www.thequalityconnection.org
Contact:
Mark Walston
Phone: 301-919-8755
About the Author
Amy Fischbach
Field Editor
Amy Fischbach is the field editor for the Electric Utility Operations section of Transmission & Distribution World. She worked for Prism Business Media (now Penton) for eight years, most recently as the managing editor of Club Industry's Fitness Business Pro magazine. She is now working as a freelance writer and editor for B2B magazines. Amy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She serves as the national vice president of the American Society of Business Publication Editors. She can be reached at [email protected].