Nether Prov eyes streetlights

 Decision-making on the installation of more energy-efficient streetlights will hinge on the payback period, township officials say.

Money for changing of the lights would come from a loan Nether Providence plans to take out to cover the costs of replacing a small bridge on Woodward Road. That loan is expected to be finalized in the near future.

Currently on the table are proposals to replace the existing streetlights with either induction or LED lights.

Unlike a traditional bulb, induction lights use a magnetic field generator to electrically excite the phosphorous coating on the inside of a glass tube. LED, or light-emitting diode, lights are small light sources that become illuminated by the movement of electrons through a semi-conductor material.

The approaches were discussed by township commissioners at their March 7 meeting, and Commissioner Mike Dougherty said the payback period for induction lighting was estimated at about eight and a half years versus 17 years for LED lights.

Commissioner Matthew Sullivan said that kind of data would influence his vote.

“For me, it comes down to the one with the shorter payback period,” he said.

While LED lights would use less electricity, the township would not realize those savings since PECO charges a flat rate for street lighting, Commissioner Frank Noyes said.

Resident Soren Spring suggested inviting a firm to install new streetlights — either at no cost or a discount — in exchange for the ability to showcase and market it to other communities.

But Sullivan said any project costing more than $10,000 would, by law, have to go out to bid, which could rule out such a possibility.