LEDs may light up harbor

A proposed purchase of $30,000 in light-emitting diode lights for one harbor mast light pole could save the city Homer up to $6,200 per light pole annually. The council introduced on first reading Ordinance 16-45, a sole-source contract to Puffin Electric to purchase 12 LED fixtures. The city spends about $66,000 annually in electricity to run seven 150-foot light poles with 69 1,000-watt high-pressure sulfur lights. According to a memorandum by Harbormaster Bryan Hawkins, a cluster of 12 LED light fixtures would cost $6,733 a year in electricity to run compared to $13,000 for a cluster of 12 high-pressure sulfur lights. Hawkins calculated that initial capital cost of installing new LED lights would be paid back in about 4 years.