Spruce Grove to Receive Streetlight Upgrades

Following a recent move by the city of Stony Plain, residents of Spruce Grove can expect to see upgraded streetlights by mid-November 2017. The new streetlights will use LED technology, making them brighter and more energy efficient. The project is already underway, with the city expecting to complete it by November 14, 2017.

This streetlight change follows a recent conversion in Stony Plain, which wrapped up on October 17th. That conversion saw a total of 1,140 streetlights switched from high-pressure sodium to LED technology. The Spruce Grove project will covert more than twice that number, with a total of 2,717 streetlights expected to be converted.

Although the conversion will unfold over the course of a single month, it is actually the culmination of almost four years of work. Patrick Inglis, senior sustainability advisor for the city of Spruce Grove, introduced the energy efficient change when he first began working with city administration in 2013.

Discussions regarding the change formally began in 2015, but a surge in interest that saw six other communities in Alberta asking for the same kind of conversion caused a delay that moved the project to this year. In total, 131 Canadian communities have requested and received approval for such a conversion. Expectations are that the change will reduce energy consumption by 45% to 60%.

The energy savings is approximately the equivalent of taking 142 cars off the road or planting 30,600 trees per year. This dovetails nicely with Spruce Grove's 10-year sustainability plan, which seeks to see the city become more energy efficient over the course of the next decade.