As of April 13, the Town of Westbrook finally became the proud owner of 626 streetlights, purchased from Eversource. Now that the town owns all of the lights, the project to replace existing fixtures with energy-efficient LED versions can begin.

This conversion to LEDs will include both the standard cobra head light fixtures and the decorative fixtures used in certain areas of town.

“We will enter into a time and materials contract with Siemens [for this work],” Energy Committee member Bill Fish told the Board of Selectmen (BOS) on April 11.

Selectman Gary Gavigan asked Fish what he financial impact would be to the town. Fish said the town’s cost to buy the streetlights is $180,398 and the payback period for the streetlight conversion project is about seven years.

“This year our bill for lighting will be $93,000. Starting in 2024, the town will see $70,000 a year in [electricity] savings [from LEDs]. The life of the LEDs is 25 years,’ said Fish.

As Fish explained, the town will go from paying about $7 per month per streetlight to about $1 per month per streetlight, once the LED bulb fixtures are installed. With the $5,000 Bright Ideas grant the Town’s Energy Committee secured, Fish said the Energy Committee planned to purchase spare LED streetlight bulbs to use as replacements, should they be needed.

The town almost took possession of 621 instead of 626 lights. Five lights for which the town had been paying were lost due to damage and downed poles in recent storms, so before the deal closed, Eversource reinstalled the five missing lights.

Fish told the Board of Selectmen that it was in the audit of streetlights that Siemens, ther contractor installing the LED fixtures, found the missing lights.