PSE&G Partners with Four Cities to Test New Energy Efficient Street Lighting

LED lamps will be evaluated for effectiveness and energy savings

Working with its municipal and county customers to explore energy efficiencies for New Jersey’s cities, PSE&G has begun testing new technologies in street lighting. The company is partnering with New Jersey cities and Essex County in a test installation of new Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps for use on city and county roadways.

PSE&G is replacing cobra head lamps on utility poles in Verona, Elizabeth, Trenton and Camden to assess LED technology and evaluate its effectiveness as a light source.

“We are aggressively addressing the need to be energy efficient and environmentally sound across all areas of our business,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G president and COO. “At the same time, we are seeking approaches to help our municipal customers save energy and money and implement green technologies in their communities. New street lighting technologies show great promise in delivering efficiency and improved reliability over existing technologies, and we are eager to examine those opportunities.”

Twenty four LED street lamps are being installed without charge to the participating cities or counties. Installation locations include Mt. Prospect and Pompton Avenues in Verona, Jefferson Street and Rahway Avenue in Elizabeth, North Broad Street in Trenton, and Vesper Blvd. in Camden.

PSE&G will be performing multiple tests during the next six to 12 months to determine reliability, light output, light quality, and energy consumption. The municipalities are being asked to monitor their experience with the new type of lighting from a pedestrian perspective and to provide feedback to PSE&G regarding their satisfaction with the quality of the light.

“We are pleased to partner with PSE&G on this program to introduce energy-efficient LED street lights in our communities,” said Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. “We eagerly anticipate this technology producing a brighter light, enhancing traffic safety, reducing energy consumption and supporting efforts to identify renewal resources.”

“Committed to implementing green initiatives, the City of Elizabeth is proud to be one of only four municipalities to partner with PSE&G and participate in the LED Street Light Program,” said Mayor Chris Bollwage. “We support efforts to save energy and raise environmental awareness.”

“It is great to see PSE&G coming forward to make a demonstrable impact on the future of the environment,” said Jonathan G. Phillips, Executive Director of Groundwork Elizabeth. “Groundwork Elizabeth looks forward to seeing expanded installations in our community.”

Light Emitting Diode (LED) technologies in street lighting are expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 70 percent while providing an equal or better illumination. In addition, they have a potential life expectancy of three to four times that of the current high intensity discharge (HID) sources like high pressure sodium and metal halide. LEDs are constructed by assembling multiple diodes connected together to form an array and then assembling multiple arrays to complete the fixture.

LEDs are considered green alternatives because of their extremely low hazardous materials content and the fact that reducing energy consumption significantly will reduce the need for electric generation that produces carbon dioxide into the environment. Today’s installations are the company’s first look into this technology and will permit a real world test of manufacturer and industry claims on energy savings, visual effect and reliability. Following review and analysis of the program, PSE&G will then determine where and how this technology can be deployed in its street lighting and area lighting systems.