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DOE outdoor accelerator
Back in May, President Obama made a sweeping announcement of energy-oriented initiatives meant to decrease energy usage, create US jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The programs included new commitments to solar and $2B [[billion) in new investments in energy efficiency projects. As Jim Brodrick, lighting program manager at the DOE, pointed out in one of his recurring Postings emails, the new High-Performance Outdoor Lighting Accelerator portion of Obama’s program will lead to the retrofit of 500,000 legacy street lights with LED fixtures.
Brodrick specifically mentioned Detroit, MI, a city with ongoing economic issues and an inventory of street lights that are more than 20 years old on average. The new program will enable an upgrade in Detroit that will include network and control technology that is expected to save the city $1.5 million per year.
Detroit is one of five US cities that will be a part of the accelerator program. The others include Huntington Beach, CA; Little Rock, AR; West Palm Beach, FL; and the greater Kansas City, MO metro area.