SaskPower intends to change every lightbulb in every streetlight in Moose Jaw by 2021 as a way to reduce power and prevent light pollution.
Every high-pressure sodium vapour streetlight will be swapped out with an LED bulb, as part of the Crown corporation’s 10-year project to change every streetlight in the province, explained spokesman Joel Cherry. LEDs were chosen since they use less power and have a longer lifespan of at least 20 years.
“So the fact they’re lower maintenance, we won’t be out there changing them as often, (which) means there’ll be fewer outages. It also means our crews are free to focus on other work and they’re not chasing down streetlights all the time,” he said.
Contractors for SaskPower were in Moose Jaw during the last couple of weeks changing the bulbs to LEDs, and in some cases, replacing the light standards altogether due to age or compatibility.
LED lights will illuminate the same area as a traditional streetlight in a more efficient manner. Furthermore, the bulbs are focused downward more than previous bulbs, which means they are dark sky compliant and won’t contribute to light pollution.
SaskPower began this project in 2017 and piloted a number of LED bulbs in Saskatoon and Regina. Last year the company focused on heavy traffic corridors in the province, including in Moose Jaw and in smaller cities, said Cherry. It also installed LED bulbs in provincial and national parks in Saskatchewan. This was partly to ensure compliance with the dark sky mandate.
This year the company is focusing on urban subdivisions in Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and Lloydminster. SaskPower will continue to roll out its LED streetlight bulbs project for the next seven years until every streetlight is replaced.
Last year in Moose Jaw SaskPower replaced 750 lights in major thoroughfares, which represents 15 per cent of the community, Cherry said. This year 2,600 bulbs will be converted to LEDs, which represents 60 per cent of all streetlights in the municipality, and 75 per cent replaced in total. The remaining 25 per cent of the community — including Sunningdale and other areas in the southwest — will be replaced by 2021.
For more information about this project visit SaskPower’s website at www.saskpower.com.
