Watch for LED street lighting upgrades across B.C.
BC Hydro Street Light Replacement Program to start in 2020
BC Hydro is planning to replace over 95,000 BC Hydro-owned and maintained street lights across B.C. to more energy-efficient LEDs. Street light customers, including municipalities, provincial ministries and Indigenous communities may be reviewing their street lighting design and requirements, which should create opportunities for lighting consultants across the province.
"BC Hydro is currently working with customers to confirm the locations of their BC Hydro owned street lights, including quantities and wattages" says Alliance program delivery specialist Tanya Perewernycky. "BC Hydro plans to offer three or four different wattage and two different colour temperature options and Alliance consultants will have the opportunity to work with customers to identify which option of LED will be best for them."
Customers will be able to identify whether they do a straight like-for-like swap, or if there's an opportunity to improve or to even decrease lighting in certain areas.
"What we're hoping to offer customers is the support they may require during the replacement. This includes the ability to reach out to lighting consultants," she says. "And leading up to that, we're developing our list of street lighting experts."
BC Hydro will start notifying customers in the spring
By March, BC Hydro expects to give a heads-up to customers that the roadway lighting replacements will be happening. The province-wide conversion of BC Hydro-owned street lights won't happen overnight. It'll take about three years to convert all 95,000 street lights.
"We plan to announce the program and provide details on the street light replacement options in March so customers can start working with consultants to select which options to go with," says Perewernycky.
While municipalities with lighting designers already in place may not lean on help from Alliance members, there will be many customers – including those in rural areas – who will require a consultant.
Perewernycky adds that a request for services to identify products for the initiative, as well as for installations services, was previously released through BC Bid.