An advanced energy trend is catching on in the Volunteer State as more cities make the switch to LED lights.
Knoxville’s City Council recently approved a contract to retrofit Knoxville’s nearly 30,000 streetlights with LEDs, setting the City on a path to significantly reduce carbon emissions, according to a release.
Council approved a more than $9 million contract with Siemens. The company expects to begin installation of the new lights across the city in late 2017 or early 2018. All work is expected to be complete by June 30, 2019.
By retrofitting Knoxville’s streetlights to LED technology, the City will reduce energy use, and take a major step toward exceeding its goal of reducing emissions by 20 percent by 2020.
“Infrastructure improvements like this are excellent ways for cities across the country to improve quality of life for their citizens, save a significant amount in energy costs and meet their sustainability goals,” said Marcus Welz, CEO of Siemens Intelligent Traffic Systems.
City officials in Paris, Tennessee announced in February an energy efficiency project there will be launched. Leaders say they will be replacing more than 2,500 lights across the city to LEDs highlighting the project’s cost efficiency.
“It’s just an opportunity to do something progressive in our community and switch everything over to LED,” said City Manager Kim Foster.
Foster said they hope to start the process of replacing the lights in May, and this will be a continuing project over the next six to eight months.
Putnam County, Tennessee received a Clean Tennessee Energy Grant, and the funds were used towards upgrading the county’s government buildings with more energy-efficient LEDs.
The LEDs will be installed in the 911 center, the community center, the Putnam County Justice Center and agriculture buildings among others.
The light bulbs began getting replaced in June 2016 and the county has until the end of this month to complete the project.