EVERETT — Everett traffic engineers got the green light to replace every green light in the city.
City street crews will soon swap out incandescent green light bulbs at 169 traffic signals and replace them with more energy-efficient light emitting diodes, or LEDs.
LEDs are used in electronic devices such as cell phones, digital alarm clocks and even the crystal ball that descends on New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
In addition to green lights, the city also plans to install LED lights in pedestrian signals this year.
“The beauty of it is the payback time is short,” city engineer Ryan Sass said.
The city is expected to make up its initial investment within two years because of reduced electricity bills, according to an energy audit conducted by Snohomish County PUD.
The utility is paying for more than half of the $433,000 replacement project.
While the LED arrays cost about $50 each, as opposed to $2.50 for incandescent lamps, they should last seven to 10 years, compared with one to two years for incandescent lights.
Also, the new lights consume about one-tenth the energy of the old.
That’s expected to result in energy savings next year of about $112,000 — $62,000 for the green lights and $50,000 for the pedestrian signals.
The city’s annual power bill is about $3.6 million and it is one of PUD’s 10 largest customers.
LED red lights were installed in Everett about a decade ago. Sass said the city may consider replacing yellow lights at some point. Because they are used less often than red and green lights, they are not as high a priority, he said.
Since the 2001 energy crisis, the city has taken steps to reduce its own energy use.
It’s eliminated the use of space heaters, installed motion sensors on lights that turn off automatically, and added more energy-efficient lighting in the Wall Street Building, the police headquarters and the library.
Much of the work has been done with financial help from PUD.
Bothell, Lynnwood and Edmonds have also received PUD subsidies for installing LED traffic signals.
Utility incentives have also helped drive energy-efficient equipment purchases at the Alderwood Wastewater Treatment Facility in Lynnwood and the wastewater treatment plant in Mukilteo.
Utility spokesman Neil Neroutsos said subsidizing conservation projects is cost-effective for the PUD because saving energy is cheaper than creating new sources of energy or buying it on the market.
Of the 169 traffic signals in Everett, the oldest date back to the 1970s.
Earlier this decade, the city began requiring that all new traffic signals be equipped with LED arrays.
Robert Nims, president of Western Systems, an Everett-based company that supplies traffic-signal equipment to cities from Alaska to Northern California and east to Montana, said LED colors and brightness have improved in recent years and prices have come down considerably.
“It’s not out on the fringes or doing something unique,” he said. “It’s pretty common now.”
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