Seattle City Light is continuing to improve customer safety, reduce carbon emissions and conserve resources by converting the globe streetlights in the downtown Seattle core from high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights to energy-efficient LEDs. The new LED lights will enrich the quality of lighting, improve pedestrian and traffic safety, and maintain the character of downtown Seattle’s historic neighborhoods. Seattle City Light is continuing to improve customer safety, reduce carbon emissions and conserve resources by converting the globe streetlights in the downtown Seattle core from high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights to energy-efficient LEDs. The new LED lights will enrich the quality of lighting, improve pedestrian and traffic safety, and maintain the character of downtown Seattle’s historic neighborhoods.
Existing globe streetlights will be replaced with LEDs in the downtown Seattle core.
In 2018, City Light piloted a streetlight program in the Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market neighborhoods. Two streetlight fixtures were evaluated for their appearance, historical integrity and light levels. Customers provided their feedback through an online survey. Based on community input, City Light selected an LED fixture and will begin converting all globe streetlights in the downtown Seattle core.
A map of the downtown Seattle streets that will be impacted by the LED conversion work.
By the end of 2019, the utility expects to convert about 2,281 HPS lights to LED fixtures and save about 536,683 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually – enough energy to power more than 51 homes for a year.
Conversion work is scheduled to begin in early April 2019. City Light’s contractor, Potelco will be working in Seattle’s arterial roadways, starting in Pioneer Square. Working hours are from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Minimal traffic and parking impacts are expected in the immediate work area. The downtown LED conversion work is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
For more information about this project, please visit seattle.gov/light/atwork.
Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to about 750,000 Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.