Street Lighting Acquisition Evaluation Tool

The ownership structure of street lighting can determine potential retrofit opportunities and benefits available to a municipality. The two most frequent ownership categories of street lighting are utility-owned (IOU) and municipally-owned. This tool focuses on the advantages (and/or disadvantages) of changing street light ownership structure by estimating the cost over time for purchasing a utility-owned street lighting system and converting it to LED energy-efficient lighting, giving users an opportunity to determine if an LED conversion is feasible. Organizations can use this tool to estimate the costs a jurisdiction can expect from municipal ownership versus IOU, allowing direct comparisons between the two options. Instructions are included to guide users with limited technical expertise in street lighting systems assessment.

The Street Lighting Acquisition Evaluation Tool considers the following: 

1. Summary information on the stock of street lighting; 
2. Information on utility tariffs for both utility-owned and municipally-owned systems; 
3. The terms of utility-offered buybacks;
4. Project financing terms available to the jurisdiction.