POTSDAM — The Village of Potsdam is hoping to save village taxpayers some money by participating in the National Grid Outdoor Lighting Conversion Program.

The program will replace high pressure sodium street lights with more energy efficient LED lights, said Mayor Reinhold J. Tischler recently.

A total of 578 streetlights across the community will be retrofitted to accept the new lights. National Grid crews will work throughout the village to install the new lighting over the coming weeks.  

The village made an upfront payment to National Grid totaling $15,000 to start the project and will receive an incentive payment of $33,870 from the utility company once the lighting conversion project is complete.

The Potsdam Climate Smart Communities Task Force recently released a Green House Gas Inventory for the Village of Potsdam that found that street lighting accounts for roughly 14 percent of its total annual electrical consumption, said a press release from the village.

The installation of energy efficient lighting will reduce electrical consumption resulting in an estimated savings to village taxpayers of approximately $15,000 per year.

In addition, Tischler said that the new LED lighting will help the village reduce its carbon footprint and contribute toward meeting its Climate Smart Communities goals.

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