City of Sandy, OR

Located west of Mount Hood in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range, the City of Sandy, Oregon made the decision to convert its outdated, inefficient high pressure sodium street lights — approximately 1,000 citywide — to long-lasting, highly efficient LED luminaires.

The city saw the conversion as a means to continue its sustainability initiatives, provide savings for local taxpayers, improve illumination for vehicle and pedestrian activity, and become fully compliant with its dark-sky ordinance. The decision was further incentivized after a new rate structure was put in place by local utility Portland General Electric (PGE) for customers using LED technology.

“After PGE converted the street lights they own within the city’s limits, we began to take a closer look at what was involved to do the same,” said Mike Walker, Public Works Director for the City of Sandy, Oregon. “The benefits certainly outweighed any concerns, but there were still some administrative items that we had to deal with to get the project up and running.” PGE provides three options for the municipality’s street and outdoor lighting purposes:

• Option A: PGE owned and maintained
• Option B: Municipality owned and PGE maintained
• Option C: Municipality owned and maintained

For years, the City of Sandy operated under option B. After conducting their due diligence, Walker and city leaders made the decision to switch to option C. This gave the city full control over the project and the ability to realize the full benefits that an LED conversion would provide. The City of Sandy was now ready to commence with the project.