A corner of Kingston, NY. (Photo Courtesy of  Wikipedia)

Kingston is a city nicknamed as K-Town in Ulster County, New York, U.S. The Common Council approved the city’s borrowing of US$ 2.1 million to install LED streetlights throughout the city. Early on, the council approved borrowing US$ 105,000 for design and engineering work for the project.

Approximately half of the approved funding will be used to pay Perreca Electric Co. of Newburgh, the bid winner of the new LED streetlights installation project. Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation will receive an estimated US$ 500,000 for the light fixtures. On top of the above mentioned expense, the approved borrowing is also expected to cover contingency costs.

“No contract will be signed with Perreca until an agreement with Central Hudson is in place, according to Ralph Swenson, City Engineer.

According to Swenson, the city and Central Hudson is working out an agreement for the purchase of the non-LED light fixtures since the purchase may very likely be canceled for the sake of buying new LED fixtures. The city council will meet again with Central Hudson’s representatives for further clarification.

The D-Ward 3 Alderman Brad Will stated despite his supportive stance in LED streetlight replacement, it was expected that the city had worked directly with manufacturers to save money.

The city spent US$ 15,000 for feasibility study in June 2014 and later spent US$ 105,000 on engineering work.

According to Common Council Will, the city originally expected the LED light replacement to be completed and compensate enough energy consumption within three years to cover the cost of the project. However, the repayment time was extended to 5.5 years.

The city ended up paying more than US$ 900 per new light fixture, which creates a US$ 550 gap between the original estimate US$ 350.

Kingston city has 2,420 streetlights, where 1,995 are owned by Central Hudson while Kingston owns 335 of them. Most of the streetlights are maintained by Central Hudson.