OTTER TAIL POWER SWITCHING LED STREET AND AREA LIGHTS IN CROOKSTON TO LED

Otter Tail Power Company is upgrading all company-owned street and area light fixtures in the community of Crookston, Minnesota, to light-emitting diode (LED) technology. The company’s LED tariff and replacement plan, which the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved on November 30, 2017, closed out all tariffs for high-pressure sodium, metal halide, and mercury vapor lighting effective March 1, 2018, and likely will reduce customer costs.

Crookston is one of several cities in Minnesota planned for a 2020 conversion. “We’re converting our outdoor lighting systems to LED technology to enhance the quality of outdoor lighting service we provide in the communities we serve,” said Otter Tail Power Company Market Planning Manager Jason Grenier. “LEDs are more energy-efficient, require less maintenance, and improve light quality and safety.”

BENEFITS OF UPGRADING STREET AND AREA LIGHTING ARE NUMEROUS
“Otter Tail Power Company carefully researched and evaluated the feasibility of adopting LED lighting systems and the benefits are numerous,” said Otter Tail Power Company Energy Management Representative Aaron Sigette. “By converting to LEDs, the city of Crookston will save on average approximately 420,700-kilowatt hours per year—the equivalent use of approximately 40 homes—and reduce CO₂ emissions by nearly 340 tons.”

• Compared to other available lighting sources, LEDs are more energy-efficient using about 70 percent less energy than high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting.
• LEDs have a longer life—lasting four to five times longer than HIDs—resulting in increased reliability and reduced maintenance costs.
• Today’s LEDs operate at a much higher color rendering index than HIDs, enabling drivers and pedestrians to observe nighttime conditions more safely due to improved light quality.
• LEDs provide increased illumination, more uniform and even lighting distribution on roadways and surfaces, meet most municipal Dark Sky regulations, and send much less light pollution spilling into the night sky.

LED STREETLIGHTS IMPACT BOTH BUSINESS AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS
Otter Tail Power Company has allocated approximately $305,000 for this capital project and will upgrade approximately 520 streetlights serving the city of Crookston and 355 area lights illuminating privately owned properties.

LED street lighting technology has a more efficient lighting pattern that reduces glare and focuses the light directly downward on the area to be lit. “Because LEDs produce higher quality illumination, objects appear more visible to the human eye,” said Sigette. “LEDs aren’t necessarily brighter, but their color rendition is greater. The color rendition of LEDs is closer to that of natural daylight, making you see better in nighttime conditions.”

NEW LEDS COULD LEAD TO CUSTOMER SAVINGS
In most cases, Otter Tail Power Company anticipates customers with street or area lighting accounts will see a slight decrease in costs. Depending on the type of fixture used for lighting service, customers may see a change in their monthly bills. The company’s most commonly used fixture—the 100-watt high-pressure sodium fixture, or HPS9—will see no price change. Overall, Otter Tail Power Company expects no net change in revenue collected from street and area lighting customers.

“We’re excited to partner with Otter Tail Power Company on this lighting upgrade,” said Public Works Director Pat Kelly. “LED streetlights will help control costs and increase energy savings, improve safety and reliability, and enhance aesthetics and environmental performance for our community.”

“The installation of LED streetlights in Crookston is another way Otter Tail Power Company is investing in technology that improves customer service and our environmental performance,” said Grenier. “This new technology is a proven long-lasting and energy-efficient lighting solution and it’s the right time for our company to implement this change in partnership with the community of Crookston.”

For more information visit otpco.com/LEDStreetLighting, contact your local city administration or contact the Otter Tail Power Company Idea Center at 800-493-3299.