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Belleville DDA plans to install LED lights downtown

metromode, 11/20/2008

Local officials in Belleville are working on a way to make the lights in the city's downtown shine brighter, longer and cheaper.

The Belleville Downtown Development Authority is planning to install LED lights in its streetlights in the next few years.

"It’s in the DDA plan but we're still a few years away," says Carol Thompson, director of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority.

The lights are expected to significantly cut the downtown's electricity expenses because LEDs are more energy-efficient and longer-lasting. LEDs typically cut electric bills in half because they use less energy, predominantly producing light that is visible to the human eye. Normal incandescent lights produce large amounts of ambient light that isn't.

The technology is already widely used in traffic lights, TVs and brake lights for cars; as well as those expensive flashlights at REI. Ann Arbor is already in the process of installing them in its downtown streetlights. Those lights are expected to pay for themselves through energy savings within 4.2 years.

Ann Arbor is also looking at installing LEDs in all of its streetlights within the next few years. Pontiac recently installed LEDs into some of its streetlights. Other cities like Ferndale, Wyandotte and Ypsilanti are seriously considering similar options.

Source: Carol Thompson, director of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke