Streetlights purchase to lead to savings

Worcester expects to save more than $1.6 million a year by purchasing more than 13,000 streetlights from National Grid, a move made possible by a sharp decline over the years in the utility’s selling price.

The city is taking advantage of a steep decline in the price for the lights, which has dropped from roughly $7 million in 2001 to the $473,900 that Worcester will pay, according to National Grid spokesman David Graves. He said the decline in price is in line with standard amortization practices.

During fiscal 2010, Worcester paid about $2 million to lease streetlights from National Grid, according to Robert Moylan, the city’s public works and parks commissioner. Moylan said the city will have to absorb additional expenses once it owns the lights, including the hiring of at least one person to oversee their operation, but the costs will be far below what Worcester has been paying for the use of the lights.

The city began exploring ways to save money on lighting during the spring of 2009, but Moylan said the options were limited until the purchase price dropped.

“It was either shut off streetlights, or ask people to pay for the operation of lights in front of their homes,” he said.

Since 2000, at least 14 other cities and towns have purchased streetlights that were previously owned by National Grid, according to the utility company. The communities include Chelmsford, Erving, Fall River, Foxborough, Franklin, Haverhill, Lynn, Melrose, Randolph, Royalston, Saugus, Spencer, Stoughton and Swampscott.