Othello switching to LED streetlights

OTHELLO — The Othello City Council was recently awarded a $105,300 grant from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) to convert the city’s streetlights to LED lights.

The council approved a grant agreement with the TIB Monday, cementing the receipt of the funds for the LED conversion project. The council also approved a contract with Avista Utilities for completing the conversion project.

City finance officer Spencer Williams said the conversion project is a wise move for the city in the long run because LED lights are “cheaper, brighter, more efficient and longer lasting.” Avista’s estimates indicate the city will see an estimated 30 percent reduction in the cost of its streetlight bill. Williams said Othello paid about $100,000 in electricity for its Avista-owned streetlights alone last year. With the conversion to LED lights, that equates to annual savings of about $30,000 for the city.

According to the city’s contract with Avista for the project, there are 236 Avista-owned streetlights in Othello, which Williams said is “the vast majority” of the city’s streetlights. Williams said the city also has a small number of streetlights owned by Big Bend Electric Cooperative, Inc.

The conversion to LED lights on the Avista-owned streetlights will cost $450 per streetlight, per the contract, for a total of $106,200 — $900 more than the amount of the TIB grant. Williams said the grant amount may be adjusted to match, but either way, the project is a no-brainer due to annual savings the LED lights will provide.

“Avista is of the understanding that TIB looks at this as an estimate and they will likely change their grant to match whatever the actual (cost) ends up being, so that’s the first thought,” Williams told the City Council. “The second thought is if it costs us $900 to save $30,000 a year moving forward, that’s still a good idea.”

Williams said the City of Othello will pay Avista for the work to convert the streetlights to LED lights, and then the TIB will reimburse the city in the amount of the grant. The grant agreement with TIB indicates no matching funds are required from the city for this project.

“Essentially, this grant is going to be a wash for the city — it will pass through us — and then we will benefit on the operational side with the ongoing savings, operational savings to the city,” Williams said.

The council inquired whether Big Bend Electric was approached by city staff regarding a conversion of their streetlights in Othello to LED lights. Williams said Big Bend had not been contacted, but “that could be the next step.” Williams added that Big Bend Electric-owned streetlights are far fewer in number in Othello — the city’s bill last year with the company was about $6,500, compared to about $100,000 for its Avista-owned lights.

The City Council unanimously approved the grant agreement with the state Transportation Improvement Board and the Avista contract for the streetlight conversion project.

Community Development Director Travis Goddard made a point to commend Avista after the council approved the contract. Goddard said Avista moved Othello to the top of their list of jurisdictions who want to convert streetlights to LED lights, adding that it is “significant that we are getting a head start above pretty much the rest of their clients.”

“They have hundreds of jurisdictions clamoring for them to replace their lights with LED, and of all the opportunities they had — and they are looking at I think a 10-year program and they were going to do a portion at a time with each jurisdiction — they took our request to heart and the fact that we are comprehensive planning and trying to be good partners with them,” Goddard said. “And they moved us to the front of the line, so we may be the very first community that they are converting.”

Ryan Minnerly can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.