Xcel Energy begins switch to LED street lights

Xcel Energy workers began upgrading area street lights to LED this week, a measure expected to save costs for communities and be environmentally beneficial.

The Gogebic Range is one of three areas where workers are replacing 3,700 street lights, with work also being done in Ashland and Hayward.

“After pilot projects to test the latest LED technology, we are making this investment in step with our commitment to support the goals of the communities we serve,” Mike Bebeau, Xcel’s community service manager, said in a news release. “With new LED street lights, our communities will save money and energy.”

The work is part of a multi-year project, which began last October, to upgrade the company’s “cobra-head style streetlights from high pressure sodium vapor to light-emitting diode.”

The newer LED lights use less electricity and have longer lives, meaning less maintenance, according to the company. They also cast a crisp, white light that Bebeau said reduces glare and remains focused on the area supposed to be lit.

Work in the Ironwood area, which includes communities as far away as Bergland, Gurney, Winchester and Manitowish Waters, began this week and is hoped to be complete by Labor Day weekend, according to Chris Ouellette, Xcel’s senior media relations representative. The exact work schedule is weather dependent.

While Ouellette said cost savings would likely vary among communities, the city of Eau Claire, Wis., is anticipating nearly $40,000 in savings after swapping out more than 2,000 lights.

The transition to LED is being done without cost to the communities.