Ashville Cuts Energy Costs In Half

The City of Ashville, NC is expecting to cut its energy use and maintenance costs in half by switching all of it's streetlights to LED's. Ashville is replacing each of the cities 3,643 streetlights with 67 watt or 195 watt LEDway streetlights from Cree, Inc. of Durham, NC. The move is expected to save Ashvill $260,000 a year. The upgraded lights will not only save the city money in energy and maintenance, it will reduce the cities carbon footprint and reduce light pollution. Ashville is paying for the lighting upgrade using Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Progress Energy, who supplies electricity to the city, will use reduced rate tables to calculate Ashville's energy rates because of the lighting upgrade, saving the city even more money.

Businesses can greatly reduce there energy and maintenance costs by switching to LED lighting. Outdoor lighting is a great place to start. LED parking lot lighting and LED landscape lighting can decrease your outdoor energy bill by 70% or more. Waterfront restaurants, bars and hotels can save even more by switching to LED deck lighting and underwater LED dock lights.