The City has undergone a major project to retrofit street lights with LED fixtures to reduce energy consumption.

Since October of 2019, the City’s streetlights group has converted over 1,400 high-pressure sodium lights to light-emitting diodes (LED).

Converting to LED technology provides multiple economic and environmental benefits. LEDs have an expected useful life of 10 years; twice the expected life of a sodium lamp. The increased expected useful life results in decreased maintenance costs.

LEDs also consume less electricity than sodium bulbs. Converting the city’s streetlights to LED will save an estimated $150,000 per year in energy charges. Environmental benefits include the reduction of the use of toxic substances, like mercury, in the production of the bulb and exposure to the substances in our city; a wider and more consistent light pattern focused on roadways, reducing light pollution for residents and Arlington’s natural nocturnal life; and an improved color rendering which allows colors to be seen in a way that more closely represents how they are seen in natural lighting.

The eight employees assigned to the Streetlight Maintenance group are expected to complete the conversion of Arlington’s streetlight network to LED over the next four years. This work is in addition to the routine maintenance required to keep Arlington’s 22,483 streetlights operational.

To learn more about the City’s LED retrofitting initiative, check out this video.

City of Arlington

Carbon Footprint