LED traffic lights save Philadelphia nearly $1 million a year

The city of Philadelphia has completed the transformation to a new type of street lights.

A federal grant funded most of the cost of converting traffic lights from incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient LEDs.

Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson says the electricity savings add up.

“Our costs have gone from $100,000 a month to $27,000 a month, real money that we pay out basically saving us 70 percent,” Tolson said.

Tolson told Councilman Curtis Jones a virtually snow-free winter also has helped her budget.

“We’ve saved all the money that was set aside for contractors if necessary. How much was that? Approximately $4 million, if we needed to plow,” she said. “As for salt, we are using all our salt monies this year, but we don’t expect to spend any money for salt next year.”

Tolson said she’s talking with federal officials about converting overhead street lights to LEDs to save more money.