Across the United States, local governments are slashing budgets, presenting significant challenges to local government. The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan suffered a 60% reduction, spurring the search for areas to cut costs, including the city’s energy use. The city was spending more than $1.4 million a year just on streetlighting.
Ann Arbor embarked on a pilot program to replace its 6,600 streetlights with LEDs, producing 50% energy savings, which is the topic of a new segment on ElectricTV.net, a joint production of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
The first 1,000 LED streetlights installed in Ann Arbor are based on the New Westminster Series made by Lumec, Inc., which contain LED light engines from Relume Technologies, Inc. The light engines are based on the Cree XLamp® LED.
On a personal note, while I’m not in a union, I owe a lot to IBEW. My grandfather was a union electrician in Trenton for most of his life, and so was my father. Like many people in middle class America, without the opportunities given to my father through union membership, I wouldn’t have enjoyed nearly the same level of opportunity in my own life.
You must be logged in to post a comment.