Clearview Township is lighting it up – and saving big.

The township has started the process of replacing more than 850 streetlights with LED technology, a move that will save the municipality about $65,000 a year.

“We are excited to undertake this environmentally responsible project that will significantly reduce our annual utility costs,” said Mayor Christopher Vanderkruys. “Reducing our energy consumption and impact on the environment aligns well with Clearview’s sustainability goals.”

The lights are part of an overall plan to improve energy efficiency in municipal facilities, including aeration system upgrades at the wastewater treatment plants in Stayner and Creemore; a new ice plant at the Stayner arena; converting the heating system at the Creemore Community Centre from oil to gas; lighting upgrades at the Sunnidale and Creemore library branches; and building automation control system improvements at township hall. The Clearview Energy Infrastructure Improvement Plan – a partnership with Honeywell – should save the township about $163,000 in utility and operational costs annually.

The program will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 197 metric tonnes per year, or the equivalent of taking 66 medium-size cars off the road.

The new streetlights consume up to 70 per cent less electricity, and are expected to require less maintenance and have a longer asset life.

The township’s chief building official Scott McLeod, who took the lead on the project, said 15 lights from four different manufacturers were installed in January, and monitored for two months in a ‘blind’ evaluation.

McLeod said municipal staff then reviewed the manufacturing specifications “and matched that up with what we were seeing the field.”

The new fixtures are dark sky compliant, producing light that does not project skyward, or outside the roadway and towards residences. The light distribution patterns will be chosen to minimize existing dark spots between fixtures.

The lights will be replaced from July through September.