Kingston, NY – Ulster County Executive Mike Hein is pleased to announce new efficient outdoor lighting will soon enable Ulster County office buildings to be more environmentally friendly, and will cost taxpayers less to operate.
The project will replace 307 existing outdoor lights at seven County buildings with energy efficient LED lights. The project will reduce the annual energy consumption at County facilities by an estimated 386,500 kwh each year which translates to an annual savings of $50,000 to Ulster County taxpayers. This is the equivalent of the energy use needed to power 49 homes.
“In June of this year when I directed the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset 100% of our electricity usage, I also directed the County’s Departments of Environment, Planning, Purchasing and Building and Grounds to develop and implement a long tern plan to make the purchase of green energy a net neutral cost,” said County Executive Hein. “The completion of LED lighting retrofits does exactly that by not only reducing our operating costs and making the purchase of our RECs budget neutral, but also reducing our energy demand for years to come.”
Central Hudson’s Commercial Lighting Program is providing the new lights and Central Hudson will be paying 59% of the total project costs. The County’s share of the project costs, $75,833, will take approximately eighteen months to recoup. “Ulster County is thrilled to participate in Central Hudson’s program. And after the initial payback period of eighteen months, the County will save approximately $50,000 a year on electric costs by completing this LED lighting upgrade. This project has clear environmental benefits as well as saving taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars a year," said Amanda LaValle, Coordinator of the Ulster County Department of the Environment.
Lighting will be replaced outside of the Ulster County Office Building, Court House, Emergency Services Department, Trudy Resnick Farber building in Ellenville, Law Enforcement Center, Department of Public Works Building and yard area and the Business Resource Center.
In 2011, Ulster County participated in Central Hudson’s Commercial Lighting program to upgrade approximately 1500 interior lighting fixtures with high-efficiency lights and fixtures. Additionally, in 2010 Ulster County replaced approximately 100 outdoor fixtures with high efficiency LED outdoor fixtures. The current program will complete lighting retrofits for the majority of buildings.
