Decatur has delayed its upgrade of city streetlights until the new 3000 Kelvin LED fixtures are available. The city was originally going to install the 4000 Kelvins in May, but now installation should begin in early to mid August according to Assistant City Manager David Junger.
Junger believes Decatur is the state’s first municipality receiving the 3000 Kelvins, which shed a more softer light in the yellow spectrum.
Decatur will replace every light hanging over a public roadway which will eliminate 1,379 high-pressure sodium and mercury vapor fixtures.
The AJC reported in May that most cities installing energy efficient, minimum maintenance light-emitting diodes, will cut their electric bills in half.
This isn’t the case in Georgia because, Georgia Power, which gets about $80 million a year from leasing street lights to cities, got state regulators’ approval to charge governments higher monthly fees for the newer models.
Decatur is one of those municipalities whose bills will actually go up. In the city’s five-year contract with Georgia Power, the city’s energy costs will be $17,774.67 monthly or about $80 a month more than it’s now paying.
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