Street Lighting Upgrades Accomplished


Baw Baw Shire Council’s Sustainable Street Lighting Upgrade Program is coming to a close after 2,606 street lights have been swapped for more efficient lighting.

Council manages 4,495 street lights of various types across the Shire, including mercury vapour (moon colour) and high pressure sodium (orange colour) lighting. The project replaced the existing, inefficient 80 watt mercury vapour lighting with 18 watt LED lighting to reduce Council’s operational costs and carbon footprint.

Street lighting contributes to approximately 40 per cent of Council’s total operational greenhouse emissions. Changing the street lights reduces these emissions by 1,150 tonnes each year.

Upgrading the street lighting with energy efficient lights will also reduce energy and maintenance costs by approximately 70 per cent per annum.

The old lighting has been recycled in a sustainable manner to retain valuable materials and metals for use in making new resources.

The $1.1 million changeover project was partly funded by the Australian Government and Baw Baw Shire Council. Council also secured a loan from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Mayor Debbie Brown said Council will make a substantial difference to its carbon footprint by making the swap.

“Reducing our carbon footprint is not only a significant concern for Baw Baw Shire Council but also the wider community. By swapping to energy efficient lighting we are taking a step in the right direction towards reducing our impact on the environment.

“The reduced costs associated with these changes will also mean that Council will be more efficient when providing services to the community,” said the Mayor.

Additionally, Council is installing energy efficient lighting in new developments and will continue to look for opportunities to changeover to more energy efficient lighting whenever the technology is available.

For more information visit Baw Baw Shire Council