By Lauren Young

Staff Writer

The Village of Fayetteville soon will begin the process of converting all village street lighting to LED technology this spring.

The village was awarded a $50,000 grant from the CNY Regional Planning and Development Board to replace all the streetlights throughout the village with LED lighting, with the help of the National Grid.

According to the New York State Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERTA) website, communities can reduce street light energy use by as much as 65 percent by switching to LED lighting, or light emitting diode technology.

Most street lighting in the United States uses high-pressure sodium (HPS) technology, characterized by an orange-yellowish light. In comparison, LED features a “white” light, which emits a shorter wavelength of light than HPS.

Mayor Mark Olson mentioned how the Minoa Mayor Bill Brazill received a concerned letter last week from OCM BOCES, their energy management servicer, questioning their energy usage.

Minoa was the first municipality in Onondaga County — and one of the first in the state — to complete convert their street lights to LED in May 2017 through the CNY Bright Lights initiative. At the time, they were expected to save the village $4,205 annually.

According to Brazill, from May 2016 to 2017, the Village of Minoa’s energy usage dropped from 98,000 kilowatt hours of energy down to 28,000. The village’s explanation? It was the LED lighting.

“They were alarmed,” said Mayor Bill Brazill about the letter from OCM BOCES. While the significant drop was surprising, the savings were expected.

Upon being first of two communities in the state to complete four out of 10 High Impact Items for a $100,000 NYSERDA grant, the Village of Minoa received the grant to convert 198 village streetlights to LED — in a process taking three days to complete.

Brazill said he was “thrilled” to begin the project and knew it would take the village in the right — and perhaps brightest — direction.

“I just love it, it’s great,” he said, adding that the “cutting-edge technology” has been a great asset to the community and that it is “absolutely” a good idea for municipalities to take advantage of LED technology.

Minoa was first estimated for a 2.4-year payback, which Olson said has since decreased to less than a year.

Other local communities, including the villages of Manlius and East Syracuse, have also made the conversion to LED lighting.

Last June, the Village of East Syracuse converted approximately 400 village street lights to LED — funded by money in their budget — with an estimated cost of $64,000. The payback was estimated for five years, with an automatic savings of $11,000. The process to convert their lights took about a month to complete.

Last September, the Village of Manlius also converted to LED, with the process completed within a month.

“The energy efficiency on these lights is exactly what they said it was going to be,” said Olson. “There has been very little issue and everybody’s seeing results, like better lighting and less energy.”

Light emitted from LED lights is a “lot more controlled,” said Chris Randall, former Fayetteville trustee who worked on the lights commission for over 12 years. “Manufacturers have changed the way they make the lights so there’s less glare.”

A motion was made and seconded to authorize the mayor to sign the grant award from the CNY Regional Planning and Development Board.

In the meantime, the village is working with National Grid representative Dave Hess to “get this conversion moving,” said Olson. “It doesn’t take long, it’s just a matter of getting the paper work in line and getting it scheduled.”