Nashville Mayor Files Legislation to Install New LED Streetlights Throughout Davidson County

Nashville Mayor John Cooper has filed legislation with the Metro Nashville Council to make Nashville Electric Services responsible for furnishing, installing, erecting, and maintaining new LED streetlights throughout Davidson County.

Currently, the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) is responsible for all right-of-way transportation-related functions for Metro Nashville, including road maintenance, traffic signals, paving, sidewalks, bikeways, bridges, capital roadway improvements, stop signs and pavement markings, parking, and permitting.

If Cooper’s proposed streetlight overhaul is enacted, NES and NDOT would enter a 10-year contract – with options for extension – for NES to take over responsibility for LED streetlights throughout Davidson County with NDOT’s oversight.

Further, if the legislation is enacted, NES will replace over 55,000 streetlights throughout Nashville and Davidson County with LED fixtures, which, according to NES, “operate at a fraction of the energy costs required to power Nashville’s decades old high-pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights.”

The new LED streetlights would also have “smart photocells that allow real-time identification of streetlight outages and greater control of lighting levels on public rights of way,” which NES says will improve safety for motorists and pedestrians.

NES said implementing LED streetlights would “save Nashville $20 million in energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36,000 metric tons over the next 10 years, while improving safety and streetscape aesthetics for Nashvillians.”

“This retrofit will allow our streetlight system to operate at its highest potential,” Cooper said in a statement. “It creates a modern and energy-efficient system that saves money for the city, while significantly reducing environmental impacts and creating safer neighborhoods throughout Davidson County. I’m grateful for the collaboration with Nashville Electric Service that is making this upgrade possible.”

The legislation is sponsored by Council Members Burkley Allen, Freddie O’Connell, Kevin Rhoten, Russ Pulley, Jeff Syracuse, Emily Benedict, and Russ Bradford.

– – –

Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.

 

 

 

Related posts

3 Thoughts to “Nashville Mayor Files Legislation to Install New LED Streetlights Throughout Davidson County”

  1. Joe Blow

    What’s the cost and how long, if ever, will it take to pay itself off? I think this is simply virtue signaling. But that should be no surprise.

  2. Rocky

    More of the Climate Hoax BS.
    How long ago did Al Gore create this Hoax?

  3. Doug Leins

    Noticably missing in this article is how much this will cost.

Comments