LED Street Lights Bring Savings. Can We Do Better for Nature’s Nightlife?

By John Bradley

In 2023, Claverack streetlights were converted to LEDs, thus reducing energy use and saving the town thousands in yearly expenses. This was one of the Climate Smart Committee’s first projects, initiated in 2021.  The committee worked with the local utilities (National Grid and NYSEG)  and town councilperson Katy Cashen to find the most effective approach to convert our 154 streetlights. The plan we worked out would take a few years to complete. Utilizing various incentives and a $5,000 CEC grant, payback was achieved in only one year. The table below shows that streetlight costs increased annually, and then when the conversion was completed, the costs dropped, and in 2023 and 2024 were below 2018 and 2019 levels, saving over $8,000 compared to 2021.

These are good numbers for the town and taxpayers.  But let's acknowledge that, given our broader commitment to a resilient environment, these streetlight improvements have a dark side for nature’s nightlife.

Do street lights have an impact on essential nocturnal life?

An article in our April-May newsletter, Embracing the Dark, described one Mellenville resident's actions to protect the vast nightlife from the effects of light pollution and thus foster the local biodiversity. If you missed it, take a look.

In our gardening, many residents emphasize native plants to increase diversity and pollination, but we pay little attention to our nocturnal pollinators. Over ⅔ of invertebrates are nocturnal, there are far more moth species than butterflies, and our bats and moths are ‘super pollinators’.  Wherever people are settled, nocturnal birds, insects, and mammals are disrupted by light pollution. If we depend on a resilient natural environment, we need to keep in mind that biodiversity and life’s processes are a day and night affair, even if we are sleeping. 

Here are a few actions residents and the town can take to protect our nocturnal biodiversity:      

• NYSEG & National Grid customers can request glare shields for street light lamps to prevent glare and light trespass. These shields redirect light output, preventing it from shining into unwanted areas and reducing glare for nearby residents. Contact NYSEG & National Grid directly to request yours today!

• Install special wildlife-friendly outdoor bulbs to reduce disorienting night insect life. Additionally,  if outdoor lights are needed, consider installing downward-directed fixtures to keep the light pointed towards the ground.

• Install bat houses to provide these essential nocturnal pollinators artificial habitat in a time when natural habitats are becoming less and less. 

• Close your curtains and shades at night to keep indoor light indoors!

• Become familiar with the Dark Skies movement & advocate for your town to work towards certification.

 Footnotes:

• Thank you to Erin Aliperti for her Embracing the Dark article last month and for reminding us that biodiversity and pollination operate around the clock. Her suggested Actions to protect nocturnal biodiversity are issues to be revisited periodically.

• This table is from the Claverack town bookkeeper:

Year	National Grid	NYSEG	Total
2018	$17,162.77	$4,881.37	$22,044.14
2019	17,307.24	5,291.15	22,598.39
2020	20,431.88	7,018.04	27,449.92
2021	21,482.39	8,014.74	29,443.13
2022	21,047.32	2,949.45	24,265.35
2023	15,705.72	3,981.95	19,687.74
2024	16,768.10	4,547.13	21,315.23

See the previous Newsletter article on Streetlight conversion in the Jan 2023 newsletter. The actual cost for the 137 National Grid lights was $19,835. With an offsetting Energy efficiency subsidy from the utility and part of a Clean Energy grant, the cost to the town was only $8,600. A one-year payback based on savings was estimated, which seems reasonable based on this data. The town applied ARPA funds, so the cost to taxpayers was nil. This is an annual energy savings that extends well into the future.