State of Rhode Island
| Number of Lights Committed | Electricity Savings kWh/yr) | Value of Electricity Saved ($/yr) | Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reductions (metric tonnes/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102,000 | 35,547,000 | $3,803,529 | 24,990 |
Program Description
The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) developed a state-level program supporting the conversion of street lighting throughout its region, with enhanced incentives in addition to any applicable utility-administered (National Grid) incentives. Municipalities that retrofitted their existing streetlights to energy efficient LED technologies were eligible for $0.40 per watt reduced for qualified LED fixtures and $20.00 for each remotely-programmable dimming control installed.
Service Area
Municipal and roadway lights throughout the state.
Situation Highlights
In 2014, the Rhode Island Municipal Streetlight Investment Act enabled municipalities to purchase their street lights from their utilities, and approximately 75% of National Grid customers in turn requested that the utility provide them with an inventory and total cost of purchasing their respective systems. It is expected that all municipal street lights in the state will be converted by 2020. As of 2016, 35,000 street lights had been converted to LED.
The RI Department of Transportation has always owned their roadway lights and already pursued conversion to LED. All of these lights are to have a control system added that offers dimming control along with monitored operation. Rhode Island is also considering addition of monitoring capabilities to traffic signals through use of the roadway controls system. In roadway lighting, maintenance has traditionally presented about 2/3 of the cost, while energy comprises only 1/3.
National Grid has requested a pilot program to investigate the accuracy of a metering system contained within customer-owned property (i.e., the street lighting luminaire), and to determine its suitability for basing its billing. The state’s public utility commission has suggested that National Grid pursue this investigation using luminaires already installed on the roadways that have the embedded controls.