Cree Adds Valdez, Alaska, to its LED City® Program

Cree Inc. (Chapel Hill, NC) has added Valdez, AK, to its LED City® initiative, an international program that promotes the deployment of energy-efficient LED lighting. Valdez is converting all of its 343 street lights to LED technology.
City officials have also negotiated a reduced billing rate with Copper Valley Electric Assn. for the LED street lights and will renegotiate its maintenance contract when it expires in 2011.
"We project we can achieve 45-percent or higher energy savings with the new BetaLED® fixtures we are installing, compared with the high-pressure sodium lights we are replacing," said Valdez Mayor Bert Cottle.
The BetaLED fixtures can be operated at three light levels. Initially, the fixtures will be operated at a higher setting for maximum light output during the winter months, when snow removal activities require high light levels. City officials can choose to switch to a lower operating level, depending on actual light-level requirements, which can potentially increase energy savings to 60%.
Valdez initially installed two trial street lights outside City Hall in January 2009 and solicited feedback from the community. The city began replacing the first one-third of its streetlights in December 2009 and expects to complete the full conversion by 2011. The new LED lights are expected to last 10 times longer than the high-pressure sodium lights currently in use.