Federal grant could provide long term savings for Bob Forrest Youth Sports Complex

A lighting upgrade at a Carlsbad youth sports complex could provide long term energy and financial savings to the City of Carlsbad, said Municipal Services Director Angie Barrios-Testa.

Tuesday Carlsbad’s City Council approved a $76,000 grant application to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for an Energy Efficiency Conservation and Block Grant (EECBG) to upgrade lights at a softball field at the Bob Forrest Youth Sports Complex west of Carlsbad.

The EECBG program was designed to assist states, local governments and Native American tribes in implementing strategies to reduce energy, reduce fossil fuel emissions and improve energy efficiency, according to a DOE website.

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City of Carlsbad City Administrator John Lowe said new light-emitting diode (LEDs) bulbs would replace the current lighting apparatus at the Sports Complex.

“The estimated cost of this project is $130,000 with a cost of $50,000 to the city,” he said.

Barrios-Testa said the plan would retrofit the existing lights to LED would improve both energy efficiency and reduce energy costs.

“It is projected to save $368,000 in a 25-year period and 18 tons of carbon dioxide reduction,” she wrote in a memo to the city council.

She said the LEDs would replace the original lights installed at the Sports Complex when it was built nearly 20 years ago.

As a participant in the EECBC program, the City of Carlsbad was required to adopt an energy efficiency and conservation strategy within a year of the award, stated Barrios-Testa in her memo.

She did not have an exact timeline on when the project would start or be complete. Barrios-Testa said the city still has additional applications to complete.

"It is too soon to give an exact timeline of when the project will be completed. As far as the grant is concerned, the pre-award information is being submitted to the Department of Energy now that City Council has approved the application. The pre-application submittal begins the full application process. The deadline to submit a full application by local governments is January 31, 2024; however, the city will be working to get it in as soon as possible," she said.

Barrios-Testa said the application timeline can take up to 90 days for processing once all requirements are in place and then the city can begin working on getting the project specifics set up.

Carlsbad was one of nearly 20 cities and counties in New Mexico eligible for the EECBG funds, read a Carlsbad City Council document.

Wes Reeves, Xcel Energy spokesperson, said LED’s emit directed light at ballparks and stadiums like the Bob Forrest Youth Sports Complex.

“And last up to 25 times longer than traditional lighting, which helps lower maintenance costs. This is a great benefit for schools and municipalities that own and operate stadiums because it’s no easy task to replace burned-out lights so high in the air. Replacing lights with LEDs also lowers monthly bills since LEDs use 75 percent less energy than traditional lighting,” he said.

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Reeves said Xcel Energy has helped municipal governments and business customers save money with the use of LEDs.

“LED lamps help city governments reduce the amount of tax dollars spent on monthly lighting bills. For our business customers, we offer a rebate program that helps lower the upfront costs of switching to LEDs. And we also work with area retailers to provide discounts on LED bulbs for all our customers,” he said.

DOE cited most lighting installations in the U.S. by 2035 will use LED technology.

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“Energy savings from LED lighting could top 569 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually by 2035, equal to the annual energy output of more than 921,000 megawatts (MW) power plants,” according to DOE’s website.

LEDs differ from other lighting types including incandescent and compact fluorescent lamps (CFL’s), per DOE.

LED blubs last 3 to 5 times longer than CFLs and 30 times longer than an incandescent bulb, DOE noted.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: City applies for $76K DOE grant for new lights at Sports Complex