A light bulb moment for Wyndham council could save residents $20 million.
The council’s Lighting The West project will replace old-fashioned street lights with new ones using Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology.
Wyndham Vale, Werribee and Hoppers Crossing will be the first suburbs to experience the new lights, which will replace inefficient mercury-vapour lights.
It is expected that 6300 street lights will be upgraded to LED technology in the next 12 months.
Mayor Bob Fairclough said that simply by changing the street lights, Wyndham’s future could be a lot brighter.
“There are many cost-saving, environmental and public safety benefits to a project like this,” he said.
“The project will save Wyndham more than $20 million over the next 20 years through reduced street lighting electricity and maintenance costs.
“LEDs are more robust as they consist of a panel of diode lights, meaning the entire panel is less likely to fail.
“There is also less depreciation of light output over time.”
Cr Peter Gibbons said the initiative ticked the environmental box.
“We’re estimating up to a 77 per cent reduction in energy use per light,” Cr Gibbons said. “It’s also low-toxic as the new lights don’t contain mercury.”
The project was funded by a $2.47 million grant from the federal government.
It is hoped that eventually every street light in Wyndham will be an LED.
