Ramapo Helps NY Make Goal For Energy-Efficient Streetlights

RAMAPO, NY — With the ongoing installation of streetlights in Ramapo, New York State has achieved its goal of replacing 500,000 streetlights with energy-efficient SMART LED fixtures, officials announced.

State and local officials met Tuesday at the corner of West Maple Ave and Smolley Drive to celebrate the program milestone.

Phase 1 of Ramapo's Smart Streetlight Project involved the swapping of older streetlights and installation of state-of-the-art LED streetlights equipped with intelligent sensors and remote monitoring capabilities throughout various neighborhoods in Ramapo.

Phase 2 will expand the deployment — including adding more than 1,500 new streetlights to areas that had limited or no lighting in the past, town officials said.

"We are thrilled to witness the successful completion of Phase 1 of our Smart Streetlight Project," Town Supervisor Michael Specht said in a news release. "The positive impact of these modern streetlights on our community has been remarkable, and we are excited to embark on the next phase to further leverage technology for the betterment of our town."

The energy-efficient fixtures have already begun to provide enhanced visibility and safety for pedestrians and drivers alike, town officials said.

The work in Ramapo helped the Smart Street Lighting NY program, financed and implemented by the New York Power Authority, achieve New York’s goal nearly three years ahead of the program’s scheduled goal of the end of 2025.

State officials said the program directly supports the goals of New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the most aggressive clean energy law in the nation, through the increased use of energy efficiency by participating municipalities to annually reduce their electricity demand by three percent — equivalent to 1.8 million New York households — by 2025.

Smart Street Lighting NY was announced by then-Lieut. Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2018. The New York State Public Service Commission has supported the program by facilitating the sale of streetlights from electric utilities to municipalities across the state.

"New York is making incredible progress towards our climate agenda every day, and the latest example is the completion of the Smart Street Lighting NY program nearly three years ahead of schedule," Gov. Hochul said Tuesday. "This common-sense program saves municipalities money and curbs statewide electricity use, and I urge New York communities to continue to work with state partners to advance energy-efficient upgrades."

Ramapo, where the New York Power Authority installed nearly 4,000 streetlights, has thus far completed the first phase of the project, which consisted of replacing more than 1,300 town-owned streetlights with energy-saving LED fixtures.

As part of the town’s $5 million street lighting upgrade, 2,500 additional LED streetlights will be newly installed by spring 2024.

The project will further improve town safety and reduce the town’s greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. Also, the town will benefit from a new asset management system to monitor and control the entire streetlight system, providing dimming options and outage reporting.

Albany, Utica, Rochester, Syracuse, White Plains, and others have already converted to LED streetlights in collaboration with NYPA, state officials said.