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Municipal LED Streetlight Program

UPDATE: Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order on March 12th mandating teleworking for non-essential state employees across all state agencies in response to COVID-19. During this time, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) Municipal LED Streetlight Program manager can be reached via email at chris.russell@maryland.gov Information submitted to MEA by postal mail may have processing times affected by the office closure. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and we appreciate your understanding.

MEA with a competitive grant award from US Department of Energy (DOE), is leading a two-state initiative with Clean Energy Solutions, Inc. (CESI) as principal consultant and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME), Virginia Regional Commission and various regional partners to facilitate the conversion of streetlights by local governments to LEDs. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Government (MWCOG), and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) as outreach and education partners to facilitate the adoption of LED streetlights by local governments. The following videos provide information on the Program:

Download the market study report:“LED Streetlight Conversions in Maryland & Virginia: Opportunities, Challenges, andStrategies in 2020”

1 of 4: Streetlighting Upgrades: A Program Introduction

2 of 4: Why Streetlights? Why LED Technologies?

3 of 4: LED Streetlighting: A Maryland-Virginia Program

4 of 4: LED Streetlighting: Overview of Program Engagement

The major objectives and associated tasks are:

Educate local governments about the costs and benefits of LED streetlighting conversions;

Assist interested local governments (including counties) in determining the specific cost-effectiveness of a project in their locality, given a rough inventory of their existing lighting;

Assist local governments via model RFQs to solicit lighting contractors and financing for conversions and act as “owners’ agents to assist their selection and implementation of conversions in Maryland and accessing the existing Dominion program in Virginia;

Provide local governments, alone or in aggregate, with any information that the governments may use to negotiate with utilities and public service commissions about updates to utility tariffs and acquisition of utility-owned streetlights where appropriate. Provide model state legislation, tariff guidance and additional educational materials on the efficacy of LED conversions; participate in meetings as needed with key stakeholders to move the conversion process forward

This two-year project, commencing in February 2019, will focus initially in Maryland on improving existing utility tariffs and gaining acquisition opportunities with the investor owned utilities. In Virginia, the major effort will be engaging local governments to take advantage of Dominion’s recently improved tariff, which renders LED conversions quite cost-effective today. The project will encourage utility regulators to approve at least two utilities (one in each state) modified tariff structures that facilitate LED streetlight conversions. The anticipated results of this project are to have at least five local governments have converted their Streetlights to LEDs, with another 10-15 local governments beginning the process to do the same.

FAQs

FAQs for LED Streetlight Conversions

Latest News

October 16, 2020 Highlights from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission's round up of LED streetlight conversions by participating local jurisdictions

About the Program

In February 2019, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), with a competitive grant award from US Department of Energy (DOE) has engaged Clean Energy Solutions, Inc. (CESI) as principal consultant and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME), the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NOVA). The Metropolitan Washington Council of Government (MWCOG), and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) as outreach and education partners to facilitate the adoption of LED streetlights by local governments.

In 2014, CESI worked with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Office of Energy Programs (TDEC OEP) on another competitive award from U.S. DOE to assist local governments in design, procurement, and implementation of energy efficiency projects. This project team interacted with many local governments across the state, and quickly realized that LED streetlights were drawing significant interest and generating a lot of questions.

Throughout the course of the project, the project team provided in-depth technical assistance to three local governments that were either entertaining or undergoing the process of converting their streetlights to LEDs. The technical assistance provided consisted of answering questions and issuing guidance regarding equipment specifications, utility tariff negotiations, project procurement, and energy services contracts, among other subjects. The following document is a catalog of most common questions encountered by the project team and an attempt to provide thorough answers, in hopes that local jurisdictions across the state can use this document to successfully implement LED streetlight projects.