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The future is looking bright in Bristol! Another exciting development in Bristol’s commitment to modernize its infrastructure is about to commence. Affinity LED Lighting out of Dover, NH will start installation soon with the conversion of Bristol’s 200+ streetlights to fully-networked LED fixtures.

“We will see multiple benefits from this lighting conversion”, says Bristol Town Administrator, Nik Coates. “Not only will Bristol have improved lighting on our roadways, we’ll have the ability to control our street lighting with dimming and scheduling and monitor that all lights are properly functioning, all while reducing our annual spending for street lighting by more than 50% from the Town’s current annual Eversource tariff costs.”

The lighting company will provide complete turnkey management of the project, as they have in more than 90 communities throughout New England, as well as all of NHDOT’s highways and turnpikes. Affinity LED will light the Town with its American-Built street lighting, locally assembled by U.S. Veterans in the Washington Street Mill, one of Dover’s oldest manufacturing mills. “We’re excited to support Bristol to reduce its energy and lighting maintenance costs, while improving the quality of light and lowering the Town’s carbon footprint, all that while building products locally right here in New Hampshire. We founded our company on this belief, that Doing Well and Doing Good are not mutually exclusive ideas,” says Steve Lieber, the company’s President and Founder.

Affinity LED has partnered with Verizon to convert Bristol’s LED fixtures into sensor-equipped smart devices that capture and transmit data in near real time. The town will gain control to enable remote operation and control of its street lights, with real-time notifications to know when a light goes out, helping residents and visitors feel secure in their surroundings.

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Southport Select Chair Gerry Gamage has announced, a contract has been signed with Affinity LED Light LLC of Dover, New Hampshire, to convert the island’s 119 Central Maine Power street light fixtures to “Smart Ready LED street lighting.”

“This is a great move for the town of Southport,” said Gamage. “We currently lease the lights from CMP and pay about $18,000 per year to them. The project will cost us approximately $50,000 but will save us a little under $17,000 per year. Over a 10-year period, that means the town will be saving nearly $170,000.”

According to Affinity’s estimates, Southport’s current street lighting energy consumption will be down by just under 75% and CO2 emissions will go down by just under 25 tons per year. “It’s an exciting move,” said Gamage, who emphasized that because of the future annual savings, the cost of conversion should be paid off within three years.

Across the island, the arms and cobra heads on all the lights will be replaced, but the poles will remain. Gamage said work should begin in the fall and be done “before the snow falls.”

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Waterville installing 1,492 new LED streetlights citywide

Waterville officials expect the city will save $250,000 annually, or about 75% of its annual energy cost, with the new lights.

WATERVILLE — The city expects to save about $250,000 annually in energy costs after 1,492 LED streetlights are installed throughout the city in the next six to eight weeks.

Wiswell Electric, of Clinton, is installing the lights, manufactured by and purchased from Affinity LED Lighting, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, according to Waterville Public Works Director Mark Turner.

“We’re converting the old sodium high pressure streetlights with new, high efficiency LED units, or light emitting diodes,” he said. “We’re going to go from a budget of $300,000 a year down to about $60,000 or $70,000.”

He said the city will save about 75% of its annual energy cost.

“It’s pretty impressive,” Turner said. “We’re already seeing it in the fact that we don’t have to pay lease fees anymore.”

City Manager Michael Roy said Thursday that Waterville is not the first community converting to LED lighting, but the city is in the early wave of those making the important capital investment up front for long-term savings.

“I’m very pleased that the city council found a way to fund that up-front expense because it will be a real help in our budget going forward,” he said.

The council voted May 7  and 21 to approve the $480,089 contract for the lighting project. The council also added $119,000 to that cost as part of a separate resolution because the city purchased the light fixtures from Central Maine Power Co.

The city had been leasing the lights from CMP at an average cost of $15 per light per month in energy and lease fees, according to Turner.

“CMP and/or the phone company still own the poles and arms and connections, but the fixtures themselves we’ll own, so we don’t have to pay a monthly lease fee,” he said.

Turner said crews have been working on roads between Main and North streets. Wiswell has completed installations on Sanger, Elmwood, Boutelle and Roosevelt avenues, as well as Johnson Heights.

Turner walked through that area Wednesday evening and said he was impressed with how many lights have been replaced so far.

“They look nice,” he said. “They had to stop on Tuesday because of the weather. They can do 50 or 60 lights a day. They’re moving right along.”

The LED lighting is very bright directly under a fixture, but it does not overspread an area like some other lights do, according to Turner.

“It’s more direct lighting,” he said. “It has a more uniform distribution of light. It doesn’t overspread and encroach on people’s private property and homes.”

He said crews will continue working their way north on roads off Main Street and will do Main later, as that area is very busy with traffic.

“They’re doing it in a certain sequence,” he said.

LED lighting elements are designed to last longer, resulting in lower and less frequent maintenance costs, according to Turner.

City officials estimate the payback period for the light project expenditure to be 2.5 years.

Communities including Augusta and Gardiner have undertaken similar projects, he said.

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FAIRFIELD — The Town Council discussed the possibility of moving forward with a project to convert the town’s streetlights to LED lights at Wednesday evening’s meeting.

According to estimates provided by Steve Lieber, president of Affinity LED Lighting, the projected cost of converting the town’s 330 streetlights comes out to roughly $207,060 for installation, equipment and network costs. By the same token, the investment would save Fairfield about $59,000 annually because of the low energy usage and minimal maintenance LED lights require.

“Not only is converting to LED lights good for the environment, but it’s also fiscally responsible,” Lieber said. “It’s good for the community.”

Lieber claimed that the benefits of LED streetlights go past just financial and environmental advantages. According to him, the bulbs and the angles of the lights provide improved clarity and brightness, allowing for better safety conditions on the roadways and sidewalks, despite producing fewer lumens than traditional street lights. Additionally, Affinity’s streetlights are paired with a network operating system that allows the lights to be monitored and for officials to be notified when or if any malfunctions arise.

“The central management system can be brought up on a computer and displays a detailed map of the streetlights,” Lieber said. “The network sets off alarms if a streetlight goes out. That way it can be immediately addressed.”

Affinity LED Lighting is based in Dover, New Hampshire, and has worked with 38 communities on commercial, municipal and streetlight conversion projects. If Fairfield decides to move forward with conversion, it will become one of the eight to 10 communities in Maine that have opted to switch to LED streetlights. As far back as December, central Maine communities such as Gardiner, Vassalboro and Augusta all approved funds for their own streetlight conversion projects.

Because one council member was absent from Wednesday night’s meeting, the decision to approve or reject the plan for streetlight conversion has been delayed until the next Town Council meeting, scheduled for July 10.