BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

CANTON — The town of Canton, like several other St. Lawrence County municipalities, is taking advantage of an offer by National Grid to switch its streetlights to LED lights. Town officials estimate the move will save taxpayer money.

The National Grid Outdoor Lighting Conversion Program will replace high pressure sodium streetlights with more energy efficient LED lights

There are 44 street lights in the town, Town Councilman Bob Washo, who is on the shared town and village sustainability committee, told the board at their Feb. 11 meeting.

“National Grid has a program where they will upgrade your lights. . . They’ve done an inventory of the town assets with lights,” Washo said.

The town would initially pay about $7,072 for the upfront cost of the conversion and Wahso said the town will get a rebate from National Grid of about $2,500 for the old light fixtures, dropping the upfront cost to below $5,000.

He pointed out that the new LED lights will equal the same lumen level as the old lights.

The town board passed a resolution at their February meeting to amend the 2021 budget to cover the initial up front cost of the switch. The money will come from the town’s special lighting fund.

“The LED streetlight upgrade illustrates Canton's commitment to lowering municipal energy use while saving taxpayers money over the long term,” Washo told North Country This Week.

At the Feb. 11 meeting Town Councilman Jimmy Smith pointed out that although light conversions would be done in the Morley special lighting district, the conversion would not increase the district costs for those living there. “This will be covered by moneys that are already available. They will not see any increased costs in their lighting,” Smith said.