The city will take a wait-and-see approach after a financial analysis presented by its public works director and a consultant found little benefit to switching over now.

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It seems Tualatin's streetlights won't be converted en masse to light-emitting diode fixtures anytime soon.

The Tualatin City Council heard a recommendation Monday, after hearing a cost analysis and staff report on potential options for switching from high-pressure sodium lights to LEDs, to hold off on any major moves for at least the next two years. Public Works Director Jerry Postema suggested that the city "stay the course" and reassess the situation later on, an evaluation Mayor Lou Ogden said makes sense to him.

If city leaders were to decide they wanted to convert Tualatin's streetlights to LEDs — which are more energy-efficient, give off less light pollution, are longer-lasting and are generally regarded as more environmentally friendly than the older high-pressure sodium lights that are most prevalent in Tualatin — they would face a choice between two options.

Like many regional cities, Tualatin contracts with Portland General Electric for streetlight maintenance. PGE has offered to convert many of Tualatin's city-owned streetlights to LED models, but according to Tualatin city staff, that offer came with the caveat that the lights would be transferred to PGE's ownership.

Instead of paying for maintenance, the city would essentially be paying to rent the streetlights from PGE, at a higher monthly cost. That means that even with more efficient LED lighting, Tualatin would end up paying more for its streetlights over time, according to the cost analysis.

The city's other possible course of action for LED conversion would be to do the job itself. The cost analysis presented by city staff Monday showed that would be the cheapest option in the long run, but it would require a significant investment and tie up staff time for the City of Tualatin to change over its high-pressure sodium lights to LEDs.

A line graph showed the break-even point, at which Tualatin would stop paying more for its streetlights than it would have been by sticking with its existing lights, at about 15 years after the beginning of the conversion project.

At the upper end, consultant Ana Roeszler of DKS Associates told the City Council, the city could save about $570,000 over a 20-year period if it were to convert to LED streetlights, take over maintenance and take advantage of some financial incentives for switching — but it would be looking at more than $1 million in up-front costs to switch over in the first place, and doing so would cut into already limited staff time.

Of converting to LEDs right now, Postema said, "We don't really see a good return on investment."

Ogden said he agreed with Postema's conclusion, but he was surprised by the conclusions that he and Roeszler presented to the council.

"It just baffles me. I thought LED was supposed to be so much less expensive from an operating and maintenance standpoint that it would justify its capital expenditure," Ogden said. "(That) doesn't seem to be the case."

Postema and Roeszler said that LED technology is continuing to develop, and that it may be cheaper to replace fixtures like the carriage-style streetlights that make up the majority of Tualatin's inventory in the future. PGE has only offered to convert and take over ownership of the "cobra-head" streetlights more often seen along major roads and highways.

Postema said he believes it would be "wise for us to wait and let the technology evolve." He and Roeszler also noted "uncertainty" and risk involved in taking over maintenance.

"We take over everything from circuitry to wire to pole," Postema said. "It's not just as simple as doing the luminaire itself."

Tualatin has about 2,800 streetlights, according to Postema. Of those, about 2,500 are owned by the city and maintained by PGE. Some PGE-owned lights have already been converted to LEDs, and the city has also converted some of the light fixtures in its parking lots to LED models as well.

City Council President Joelle Davis suggested that the city should start doing some research so it has more information and less uncertainty when it revisits the question of LED streetlights in two years.

"If we're not planning to 'tear into the walls' today, and we're going to come back to revisit the walls in two years, isn't it a good idea to have a better idea about where all this stuff is?" Davis said, referring to the circuitry and wiring — much of it buried underground — that the city would be taking responsibility for along with the streetlights themselves.

She continued, "What are we doing to plan for this if we're going to revisit it in two years?"

Roeszler said that because of limited information available from PGE, a tactic other cities have used is to survey individual streetlight poles and figure out how and where they are connected to the power grid.

For now, Postema said, the city's plan is to keep on with its high-pressure sodium lights, including having them installed in most new developments. He suggested it can consider on a case-by-case basis whether LEDs make more sense for certain projects.

By Mark Miller
Assistant Editor, The Times
503-906-7901
email: mmiller@commnewspapers.com