Through a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Asheville is first city in North Carolina to install LED streetlights on a large scale. The City of Asheville’s push to increase energy efficiency and reduce the city’s overall carbon footprint has recently taken a big step with the replacement of traditional streetlights – 175- and 400-watt mercury vapor and 250-watt high-pressure sodium fixtures – with LED luminaires.
 
Approximately 730 streetlights in Asheville’s River District and Kenilworth neighborhoods have been replaced with LEDway® streetlights with BetaLED® Technology saving the city approximately $45,000 in annual energy costs. An additional 2,913 LEDway® street lights are currently being installed and the City anticipates saving 50 percent in energy use and maintenance avoidance due to the LED upgrade. The total upgrade of 3,643 LEDway® street lights is projected to result in savings of $260,000 annually.
 
“The upgrade to LED streetlights represents one of the most exciting developments since the Office of Sustainability was created three years ago to examine ways to reduce the City of Asheville’s energy use,” said Maggie Ullman, energy coordinator with the city’s Office of Sustainability. “It reaffirms Asheville’s role as a leader in carbon footprint reduction.”