Drawn by the Glow of Greener Streets

Despite Costs, Md. Town Seeks LED Street Lamps

One of the latest hot spots in Washington's fight against global warming hangs 25 feet above the speed humps and manses of the little town of Somerset in Montgomery County -- 174 streetlights bolted to wooden telephone poles, a prosaic government service tucked under the tree canopy.

No one ever paid much attention to the humble street lamps, until Pepco announced last summer that it was replacing the mercury vapor bulbs in 36,000 fixtures in the Maryland suburbs with a more environmentally friendly model made of high-pressure sodium. The new lamps use about a third less energy than mercury vapor bulbs, which contain toxic elements and are being phased out. They would save Montgomery and Prince George's counties about $450,000 a year in electricity costs, producing more light with less power. The conversion is free for local governments.

The new bulbs are greener. But they're not green enough for Somerset.

To reduce the Chevy Chase community's carbon footprint still more, a band of determined town leaders and activists is pushing for a newer bulb, an emerging technology for street lighting called a light-emitting diode. LEDs are the lights of choice in traffic signals and stadium scoreboards, but they're also becoming the next standard for green lighting on streets and even in homes. Their directional white beam can be more pleasant than sodium vapor's yellow-orange burn, which bothers stargazers. They have no toxic element such as mercury. And they're semi-permanent, lasting up to 15 years. Studies say they're a third more efficient than sodium vapor and can slash a local government's electricity bill by half.

Somerset's environmental activists have invested as much intellectual firepower in researching LEDs as they use in their jobs as lawyers, doctors, consultants, diplomats, real estate brokers and think-tankers. Their plea: Don't give us a dinosaur.

"At a time when everybody is talking about energy efficiency and being green, you would think the utilities would be all over this," said council member Alan Proctor, a software consultant.

But Somerset and other Chevy Chase towns on the list for new streetlights are finding that going green isn't always as simple as it seems. LEDs have bigger upfront costs, and although they might pay off in a few years, Pepco says the lights are too expensive.

"To change to LED bulbs would be very costly," Pepco spokesman Bob Dobkin said. "We can't just go out and do it. If a customer wants to upgrade to a different type of fixture, they'd have to pay the increased cost of that."

That would come to roughly $350,000 for Somerset, about $2,000 for each LED bulb installed, compared with $170 for each high-pressure sodium one, although the cost of LEDs is going down.

Somerset leaders are pressing their case with biweekly conference calls with Pepco, e-mails, consultants and white papers in negotiations that bring to mind the Kyoto treaty. It's an active town, with 15 homeowners on the environment committee alone. Decisions are meticulously researched: Anyone planning a garage renovation must submit to a fact-finding hearing before the council.

Michael Lizza, Pepco's streetlight manager, said the utility is "actively researching" LED technology and the experience of Ann Arbor, Mich., Los Angeles and a few other communities that are converting their lights. But as with solar power, hybrid cars and other technologies that are good for the planet but not for the pocketbook yet, the LED industry is still limited. Prices are coming down -- just not enough for a public utility to afford. Lizza also said the LED beams might be too laserlike to light the street.

"We want to provide this technology when it becomes available," Lizza said. "But right now there's a big energy savings just from converting from mercury bulbs to sodium."

Pepco has some LED samples in the parking lot of its facility in Rockville, but Somerset activists say the location is inconvenient.

"Let's have a convenient place where a member of Congress can go for a drive after dinner," said Mike Hill, a lawyer who chairs the environment committee. Hill says LED bulbs are now down to about $600, but Pepco isn't budging.

Among local governments, streetlights account for the third largest use of power, according to the Clinton Global Climate Initiative. A study released in the spring by Robert Grow of the Greater Washington Board of Trade says LEDs could save the region $6 million in annual electricity costs, although they would cost about $70 million to install. It would take about seven years to recoup the cost, the study says, but the lights need virtually no maintenance compared with sodium bulbs.

In the District, which owns its streetlights, the council held a hearing on LEDs in the spring. Arlington County has a pilot project with five bulbs.

Time might be against Somerset, which has until Aug. 4 to tell Pepco whether it wants the free conversion to high-pressure sodium lights. The town has set aside two hours to present the options at a townwide meeting in July.

Not everyone loves LEDs. A lighting consultant hired by Martin's Additions, a village of 320 homes east of Connecticut Avenue, brought a sample bulb to a recent meeting, and some people were unpleasantly surprised.

"It gives off a very white light, and I'm not sure it's so pleasant," said Jean Sperling, the Martin's Additions village manager.

Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin said the town has about $2.5 million in a reserve fund, but that has been set aside to renovate the 40-year-old bathhouse -- with a green roof. "I think that basically we are a very green-oriented community," Slavin said. "But right now I'm not sure we have the money in the budget for LEDs."

Slavin wrote last week to state Sen. Brian Frosh (D-Montgomery), who lives in Somerset, asking him to appeal to Pepco for an LED pilot program in Somerset. "Because we are on the doorstep of the nation's capital, we could serve as a convenient place for policymakers to see LEDs in use," he wrote.

The Montgomery town of Kensington is taking its own path, negotiating to buy its streetlights from Pepco so it can install the most energy-efficient bulbs it can afford.

Said Sanford Daily, the town manager, "Everyone wants to save energy these days, but it's gotten so expensive."