Outdoor lighting consumes a significant amount of energy—about 1.3 quadrillion Btu annually—costing about $10 billion per year.
In the last five years, a number of municipalities have switched to new LED technologies that can reduce energy costs by approximately 50% over conventional lighting technologies and provide additional savings of 20 to 40% with advance lighting controls.
Beyond cost and energy savings, the higher efficiency of LED lights provides other benefits, including reduced carbon emissions, helping cities reach carbon reduction goals, reduced light pollution from less light being directed into the night sky due to optical control, and greater perceived public safety because of improved visibility through better color rendering and more uniform lighting distribution.
DOE has developed tools and resources to assist public and private organizations through the following efforts: