Solomon: City Seeks Bids for Upgrading Street Lights to LED

WARWICK, RI — Mayor Joseph J. Solomon has announced the City will be seeking competitive bids to replace streetlights with more energy-efficient LED technology.

The City had issued a bid last October to seek vendors for street lights, but the City Council rejected the bid because it was a sole-source bid and was presented for the purchase and maintenance of the existing street lights, according to Solomon.

Warwick will purchase the street lights from National Grid and the new RFP will seek competitive bids for the conversion to LED as well as a short-term contract to maintain the existing equipment until they are converted to LED.  An expert from National Grid has offered to assist in the bid process at no cost to the City, Solomon said.

The comprehensive LED conversion will result in long-term cost savings and better energy efficiencies. For example, LED lights provide equal or better illumination, use up to 70 percent less energy and can last for more than 50,000 hours and in some cases up to 100,000 hours without an effect on light quality. The cost savings will also likely enable the City to turn on some of the lights in neighborhoods throughout the City that have been “red capped,” or disabled, for many years in order to save on electricity costs, Solomon said.

“Improving the safety and appearance of our neighborhoods is of the utmost importance to me, and the red-capped street lights are a concern that I am hearing frequently from our residents when I attend community events,” Solomon said. “The cost savings from this project will help us to turn some of those lights back on. Moving forward with this project in a comprehensive way is good for our residents, our City budget and the environment.”

Benefits of LEDs in addition to their efficiency, include the ability to target the light so it best illuminates the roadway and the fact that LED lights, unlike traditional lights, do not need to warm up in cold weather and instead are on instantly.