Lighting the Regions Media Release
Published on 09 June 2021
Pyrenees Shire Council is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement for the roll-out of stage two of Lighting the Regions, another practical project by Council to lower its greenhouse emissions and energy costs.
Lighting the Regions is a cooperative bulk-buy street lighting replacement project that will save ratepayers money and reduce energy use by installing approximately 11,000 high-performance and energy-efficient LED street lights across eleven councils in the region.
The new LED lights perform better, last longer and are between 32% and 82% more efficient than the existing lights (depending on their wattage).
Lighting the Regions is expected to drastically reduce street lighting energy use and costs – with approximately $19 million energy and capital costs to be saved by the partner councils over the lifetime of the assets (over 20 years). The project will reduce street lighting greenhouse gas emissions by around 64,283 tonnes. This is equivalent to removing 14,950 cars from the road for one year!
Pyrenees Shire Council CEO, Jim Nolan, said that approximately 109 street lights will be replaced with energy efficient alternatives in the Shire.
“We’re very proud of this project. It will save approximately 410 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions during the life of the new assets (over 20 years), which is equivalent to taking 95 cars off the road for one year.” Mr Nolan said.
“Not only will we be helping to lower our greenhouse gas emissions, but we will also be making significant savings on our energy bills,” Nolan said.
The project is expected to be cash flow positive in around year eight. Every year the Pyrenees Shire Council will save approximately 21 tonnes of greenhouse emissions, which is the equivalent of lighting 26 average homes per year.
The new lights also have other benefits, including: less depreciation of the light output over time, lower glare, better colour rendering, greater reliability and lower maintenance costs.
Work on replacing the street lights has already begun. The majority of the lights being replaced are on the main streets in Avoca and Beaufort, which means residential streets will not be impacted. However, there may be some parking impacts on the main streets of Avoca and Beaufort for short periods of time. The cost of the light replacement program is being shared with VicRoads.
The project is the initiative of the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance and includes the following councils: Ballarat City Council, Buloke Shire Council, City of Greater Bendigo, Hepburn Shire Council, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Mildura Rural City Council, Mount Alexander Shire, Pyrenees Shire Council and Southern Grampians Shire Council.
The first stage of Lighting the Region took place in 2015, with 277 residential street lights replaced.