Berkeley Signals Shine More Efficiently

Berkeley is helping the environment. And it's getting thousands of dollars to do it.

The City of Berkeley is receiving more than $225,000 in rebates from PG&E for replacing nearly 3,000 traffic signal bulbs with more energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode) fixtures, the city announced last week.

The new environment-friendly traffic signals will also save Berkeley $145,000 annually in energy costs, according to a statement released last week.

Unfortunately for the city, that is just a drop in the bucket compared to the $2 million budget shortfall it faces this fiscal year.

LEDs save money because they consume 90 percent less energy than the replaced traffic bulbs, said PG&E spokesperson Jason Alderman.

Because PG&E will have to supply less energy generated by coal, natural gas, wind and hydroelectric sources, Berkeley's LED traffic signals will annually cut 55,438 pounds pollution from the air, Alderman said.

The amount of energy the new LEDs will save could light one 100-watt light bulb in every house in Berkeley for more than half a year.

On top of the environmental and economic benefits of the new traffic signals, the LEDs emit "clearer light, and you can see (them) from a greater distance," said Berkeley energy analyst Alice LaPierre.

Although Berkeley is a recognized leader in environmental conservation, the city is not the only one replacing its traffic signal bulbs with LEDs.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find a city in the Bay Area that hasn't converted at least some of its traffic bulbs," Alderman said. "It's almost a

no-brainer. It pays for itself within a matter of months."

The Bay Area is not the only region in which cities are overhauling their traffic light systems.

"I've seen (the LEDs in traffic signals) as far East as New Hampshire," LaPierre said.

The city's red and green traffic bulbs were replaced over a period of three years as part of an energy conservation program sponsored by PG&E.

Red and green traffic bulbs, which are used the most extensively, are given priority for replacement, while yellow bulbs "almost never get replaced," as they are used the least often, Alderman said.

They look like "miniature Christmas lights opposed to traditional incandescent lights that you screw in," he said.

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