By Charlene Tebbutt

SaskPower installing new LED lighting

Jan 25, 2019 | 4:00 PM

You may have noticed a softer hue shining down from local street lights lately.

It’s part of work being done by SaskPower to replace some 98,000 bulbs across Saskatchewan with new, energy-efficient LED lighting. The project has the added bonus of being softer on the eyes once darkness falls.

“Currently, they have high-pressure sodium vapour bulbs in there and by switching them to LEDs, they’re going to use between 40 and 60 per cent less energy and they’re going to require far less maintenance because the LEDs are going to last a lot longer,” Joel Cherry with SaskPower said. “Our maintenance guys are going to spend far less time chasing burned-out light bulbs and they can focus on others aspects of maintenance.”

The changeover started in 2017 with a pilot project in Saskatoon and Regina. Following a successful test run, SaskPower opted to expand the program into other communities across Saskatchewan. Locally, about 8,000 street lights are set to be converted before the end of March, including in Prince Albert, Candle Lake, Waskesiu, Meadow Lake, Humboldt, Melfort and the Battlefords.

“One of the benefits of the LED lights is that they are more directed, and so you don’t have as much waste light going upward and creating light pollution in the sky,” Cherry added. “We’ve selected a warm, white light that kind of mimics daylight conditions, to basically, just more accurately render daytime colours.”

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Other communities slated for street light replacements in the 2019-20 fiscal year include Black Lake in northern Saskatchewan, and Lloydminster. 
 

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt