MLGW replacing street lights with LED lights faster than any other city in the country

An LED streetlight replacement has moved to phase two, and Memphis Light, Gas and Water said it's completing the conversion faster than any other city in the country. With 77,000 lights replaced and only 3,000 currently not operating, MLGW President and CEO Doug McGowen said they had fewer malfunctions, as well.

Brad Gates, director of electric construction and maintenance for MLGW, is the "guy to blame," McGowen jokingly said for the speed at which the conversion has happened.

"We often get accused of going too slow and taking too long. But again, Brad Gates is the reason that we are one year and 77,000 lights ― nobody in America has done it that fast," McGowen said.

McGowen also provided a comparison to other cities.

"Los Angeles took seven years to do 140,000 and while there's a fiscal decision for Nashville, they're still taking four years to do 55,000. So, we'll take that small win," he said.

Phase two of the replacement involves fixing the LED street lights that flicker on and off, which involved underground repairs, McGowen said. Other cities told MLGW they should expect about 10% of their lights to malfunction due to improper voltage due to the lack of ballast the old lights had.

The ballasts provide voltage stability for the lights. McGowen said that the reason some of the LED lights do not work is because there was a voltage issue that was not evident before MLGW replaced the lights.

MLGW has a lighting management system that shows which lights are on and off based on colored dots, McGowen said. He also said that the system allows MLGW to interact with the lighting system and see where teams need to go and investigate streetlights that are not on.

Underpass light replacement will also be a part of the second phase of the LED light conversion. McGowen touted the program and said the utility provider has met all the goals they put in place and even exceeded some.

"We had some goals and we met all of them saved us $2.5 million a year in electric costs," McGowen said. "We had a 30% goal for MWBE. We're going to be almost at 33%. It saved us 6.7 megawatts."

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The old lights that were replaced were recycled, something McGowen said he is very proud of. Through a partnership with the Binghampton Development Corporation, 58 people were employed to dismantle the old MLGW cobra head streetlights and separate the copper, steel and aluminum.

Nashville has also agreed to send their old lights to BDC to be recycled, McGowen said.

McGowen said that every single light has been replaced but there are still 3,000 that are not operating. Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton said her main concern is that there are areas in the city with the highest crime rates and if those areas are being affected by the improper voltages.

"Of course...we're grateful that we're number one in the United States or whatever. But we're number one to a lot of things here in Memphis right now," Cooper-Sutton said.

Cooper-Sutton said she would like to see where the outages are in the city, and if they are also in places where crime is higher. Cooper-Sutton also said that she has seen lights dim over time.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at (901) 484-6225, brooke.muckerman@commercialappeal.com and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: MLGW says LED street light conversion has saved millions in past year