Council pursuing street light upgrades

Council could save up to $300,000 a year by upgrading the city's street lights through the Southern Lights program.

Southern Lights is a Local Government driven project that involves Councils working in cooperation with Essential Energy to change the way that street lighting is delivered across Southern NSW.

Broken Hill is a partner in the program with Riverina Eastern Regional Organisation of Councils, Riverina and Murray Joint Organisation, Central NSW Joint Organisation and Canberra Region Joint Organisation.

The program aims to replace old street lights with state-of-the-art LED lighting and smart control technology across 41 Local Government Areas at an estimated cost of $55-60 million.

In Broken Hill, the rollout of the program would see 2000 mercury vapour and high-pressure sodium street lights converted to LED at an estimated cost of between $1-1.5M

Council's Chief Financial Officer, Jay Nankivell, said the project could have a range of benefits if it receives funding, and reinforces Council's commitment to becoming a Smart Community.

"The joint Southern Lights body will seek funding for the program from the Federal and State Governments, and we're confident it will result in significant savings and environmental benefits both for Councils and utility companies," he said.

"In Broken Hill alone, our Council would be looking at a saving on electricity of around $300,000 per year.

"LED street lights also use less energy, do not contain hazardous materials such as toxic mercury, and help reduce CO2 emissions.

"In addition, they can potentially be outfitted with smart modular technology such as Wi-Fi, CCTV, smart parking sensors, built-in automated fault reporting, and sensors to dim or brighten the lights in accordance with foot traffic in the area."

Mr Nankivell said a business case around the Southern Lights project is currently being developed amongst participating Councils.