Efficiency initiative could brighten up Markleville
Nov. 16—MARKLEVILLE — Markleville could be getting a bit brighter.
Town council president Daniel Roseberry said the council could be replacing the town's lightbulbs with LEDs as part of an initiative from Duke Energy.
As of Monday's meeting, the council decided to table its decision for at least two weeks. He said they want to look into their options as to how they would go about funding the project.
About $21,568.57 was the estimated total cost. The council could choose one of several payment plans of varying durations and monthly costs.
A one-year initial term would bring their light maintenance bill to $1,800 per month; a three-year term at $602; five-years, $384; seven-years, $292; and 10 years, $224.
If the town raised it's rate to $329, he said, Duke Energy would cover the cost of the project and the $329 would be its monthly light maintenance fee from now on.
Roseberry said if they decided to pay for the project, it would be out of reserve funds. Either way, he said, the light maintenance cost would be lower; the current rate is $427 per month.
While such projects have been going on for some time, this one offers customers, especially municipalities, a special rate for switching over, said Dan Rhodes, manager from Duke Energy Corporation.
Per the program, municipalities will need to convert their street lights to LEDs to get the special rate.
"The reason we do this is to reduce the overall use energy on the grid. It ends up saving customers money through the avoided cost of having to build new equipment to service the load," he said.
Rhodes could not provide a precise start date for this program, but suspected it began around August.
After a winter storm left many Texans without power last February and a heat wave this summer prompted blackouts in California, some may wonder if Indiana is next.
Rhodes said Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), who manages the power grid, reported a higher risk of blackouts during the summer, but said the risk of rolling blackouts in Indiana is minimal.
Much of Indiana, he said, does share a grid with parts of Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky, which means measures could be taken, if disaster strikes one of those states.
Rhodes said Duke Energy has robust plans to reduce load in a crisis, while minimizing impact on customers.
Follow Caleb Amick on Twitter @AmickCaleb. Contact him at caleb.amick@heraldbulletin.com or 765-648-4254.
