Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley, right, and Mayor Eric Papenfuse at the streetlight project launch Tuesday.
Harrisburg today marked the official launch of a citywide streetlight replacement project with a cake-cutting ceremony at the intersection of Mulberry and Derry streets, an area slated for redevelopment under the name Mulder Square.
Speaking to reporters beneath a set of rain-soaked tents, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse said he believed the $3.7 million project, which will replace 6,100 existing streetlights with new LED bulbs, was the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania.
Contractors will be changing bulbs across the city on a schedule designed to align with street-sweeping days, and are expected to finish the work by April. Residents can follow the progress on a color-coded map—with blue balloons indicating a bulb that has been changed, and red a bulb yet to be replaced—on the city’s website.
Officials said the project would cut the city’s electric bill by two-thirds, saving more than $500,000 per year, and that the project would pay for itself in about six years. The savings are guaranteed under a contract with The Efficiency Network, a Pittsburgh-based company that was awarded the project earlier this year.
The bulk of the project cost is being paid with a $3.2 million loan from M&T Bank, which the city celebrated in September as its first major borrowing since its near-bankruptcy. The city is seeking a grant from Impact Harrisburg, a nascent nonprofit promoting infrastructure improvement and economic development, which would allow it to pay off the bank loan early if awarded.
Part of the cost is also being paid by a $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority and a $30,000 donation from Lighten Up Harrisburg, an organization that raises money to improve city lighting through an annual 5K run.
Also attending the ceremony was state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley, who said the new lights would result in 1,600 fewer tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, about the amount produced by 250 homes.
“Cutting your streetlight bill by two-thirds is really cool,” Quigley said. “It’s great to see new technology being applied in such a smart way here in Harrisburg.”
Papenfuse, before cutting a cake designed specially for the occasion, pointed out toy streetlights stuck into the icing, along with a miniature fountain. The latter was meant to replicate a century-old stone fountain nearby, which Papenfuse said had been used to water horses in what was then Mount Pleasant, a Harrisburg suburb.
Mulder Square was specially chosen as the launch site because the city is making a “strong investment” there, Papenfuse said, noting Harrisburg has applied for a state development grant to improve the area. “Sometimes, we’ll start other projects in other parts of the city. We wanted to start right here, right at this crossroads.”
That was not exactly true—by Tuesday, contractors had already installed several lights along 3rd Street in Midtown and Uptown and in Shipoke. But city engineer Wayne Martin said that was because parts arrived early and contractors had wanted to get to work without waiting for the scheduled ceremony in Mulder Square.
Patrick Regan, director of government programs at The Efficiency Network, said his company was “very honored” to work with the city on the streetlight conversion and credited the mayor for coming up with the idea. “This project is really the direct result of the vision and the foresight of Mayor Papenfuse,” he said.
