The Voice of Oklahoma Gas & Electric
I don’t see them at the table today. I’ve not seen them in of the meetings I’ve attended. And I’ve been told OKC is not being restricted to lights OG&E likes to order from the Pelco catalog. And yet, after much discussion over LED lights, the following bit of info emerges: the utility doesn’t want to do LED lights. They’re not refusing the city, but they’re not wanting to do it and they say they’ll need to be convinced of their effectiveness and lifespan. (from assistant city engineer Laura Story)
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Comments
True! The city does not have to use the lights OG&E prefers. Jefferson Park’s lights are from another company.
I am not sure OGE DOES NOT WANT the LED lights….
I think the issue is true effectiveness. Are they reliable? (Lots of differing opinions) Does it make business sense? (Not yet a big industry) Lots and Lots of enthusiasim for the subject and lots of questions to answer. I believe OGE values their client base very highly, there may be an excellent opportunity to use the upfront installation costs for the Project180 to get started. The questions continue faster than some can get to the table with answers.
The only thing really to be sure:
*Use these dollars to the best of their potential,
*invest in ideas that are GREAT ideas and
*be sure we can take care of what we install.
I talked to OG&E (I’m hoping to get a story out for Friday) and their take is they don’t want to deal with them right now. They say they are more expensive, have no track record as urban street lighting (something I’ll check into) and uncertain reliability.
I look forward to digging into this more tomorrow. I’m reluctant to accept on face value what OG&E is reporting – they may be right, but I’d like to check with some other sources first.
Led – Light emitting diodes. Low energy use – but large scale use for street lighting is just now being developed so it is on its learning curve of being efficient, durable and cost effective. So present LED street lighting is on the leading edge and If it were chosen you would be on the upside of the learning curve. So not proven yet to see how long the fixture life cycle or maintenance would be.
LED fixtures have fine photometrics, and the lamp elements do last much longer than other types of lamps; however they (LEDs) each require a transformer that has a shorter life-span than the lamp! You will find many good examples of wonderful LED street lighting and a healthy growth in their future use. They offer some excellent products that would look awesome in OKC… But! Currently there is a limited selection, compared to the established technologies, so why should we be limited to only select from LED products just because they’re new and “cool?” (There are many newer & cooler products on the horizon… should we wait for them? Wait till you see the OLEDs!)
The selection should first be based on desired photometrics and functional requirements (yes, cost is in the equation), THEN style & technology…
Could OG+E’s shying away from LED’s be due to their lower operating cost? Just something to think about…
Interesting question, John. If I understand LED’s correctly, they would get less money from their operation. Who pays for maintenance of street lights? The city or OG&E? Would these costs be higher or lower?
Can someone enlighten me on what the pros and cons of LED lights are? All I know is they are more expensive up front but more effecient to run. What about repairing costs? Do they attract more/less bugs than other lights?