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.