It’s time to change the lights as Twe
ed Shire Council strive to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the Shire’s streetlight network.
In fact according to new Tweed Mayor Councillor Barry Longland they have already changed nearly 4000 energy-hungry lights with more efficient technology and nearly halved energy consumption.
Delivered in partnership with Essential Energy, the energy-efficient streetlight upgrade aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and save $270,000 in annual operating costs.
Mr Longland said at a cost of $293,000, the initiative will pay for itself in a little over 12 months making the energy efficient lighting good news for the ratepayers and the planet.
“The upgrade is a win-win situation, significantly reducing operating costs while nearly halving the network’s carbon footprint,” Councillor Longland said.
The Tweed’s streetlight network consists of more than 5000 lights. The upgrade focused on the Shire’s 3888 mercury vapour lamps, replacing these with a combination of compact fluorescent and high pressure sodium lamps. While the new lamps produce a similar light output to those they replaced, they consume far less energy.
It is current practice for Council to specify energy efficient lighting for new subdivisions – for example, Seaside City – however the majority of the Tweed’s current street lighting in older subdivisions was previously not considered energy efficient in terms of the available new technologies.
Richard Wake, Regional General Manager of Essential Energy said the Tweed Shire lighting upgrade was part of a regional initiative to improve the energy efficiency of streetlights from Tweed Heads in the north to Grafton in the south.
“Essential Energy is pleased to be working with the Northern Rivers group of Councils to achieve these energy saving outcomes,” Mr Wake said.
