DOE Detroit's Street Lighting Conversion Report Show LEDs Cut Energy Consumption by 60%.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a new report on the comprehensive street lighting restoration currently being undertaken by the City of Detroit, which includes transitioning the existing high-pressure sodium (HPS) sources to LED. Entitled Restoring Detroit's Street Lighting System, the report provides an objective review of the circumstances surrounding the system restoration, the processes undertaken and decisions made, and the results to date.

By mid-2013, the year Detroit declared bankruptcy, it was estimated that as much as half of the city's 88,000 installed HPS units were not in reliable operating condition. In addition to repair and replacement of most of the streetlights, much of the associated wiring and supporting electrical infrastructure also needed replacement, due to its deteriorated condition. The previous number of fixtures, which included alleyways and residential areas where the population has significantly decreased in recent years, was deemed excessive from a budgetary standpoint, so the new system will be limited to approximately 65,000 LED streetlights.