Clearlight Case Study: Otsego Electric Cooperative

• Led Lighting Co-op Case Study – Otsego Electric Cooperative, Hartwick, NY
• 850 175W Mercury Vapor NEMA dusk-till-dawn fixtures retrofitted with Evluma Clearlights

Otsego Electric Cooperative Director of Technology and Member Solutions, Jim Foote, began to look for alternatives to the 850 Mercury Vapor  NEMA Type V dusk-till-dawn lights on their line in early 2008. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 had banned the importation and manufacture of Mercury Vapor ballasts. Most of the 850 Mercury Vapor lights to be replaced were located on member properties and served as security lights. “We really didn’t want to switch to HPS, or Metal Halide,” said Foote. “We wanted something more energy efficient.” CEO Stephen Rinell urged his team to find a solution. Foote had been watching for the development of viable LED replacements for some time and planned to try out several models and manufactures before adopting any one technology.

Before making any decisions, Otsego first evaluated their existing energy usage. “We really wanted an accurate look at what our existing lights used for power, to see what they used over the course of the year,” said Foote. Ostego uses automated metering systems that allow the staff to trend energy use and demand. “We put a meter on each light. The energy use on one light may not seem like much, but when you have 850 lights it becomes significant.” In early 2009 Foote contacted Evluma and purchased a few samples of the then recently released LED retrofit, the 40W Clearlight. He installed and metered the Clearlights, a Metal Halide fixture, and a fixture provided by Beta LED, comparing the data daily.

“Yes, we did look at Metal Halide, but we really wanted to go with LED. We were looking at efficiency and if our members liked it or not.” Jim knew the Metal Halide bulbs would have the same maintenance requirements that other HID bulbs have. The predicted life of LEDs was much longer than anything they were using on their line and with an L70 of 70,000 hours the Clearlight lasts easily 4-5x longer than the legacy technology. Like many co-ops, Otsego has to send a lineman out to change a bulb when it burns out, or a ballast when it fails.

“When compared to the cost to send a lineman out an hour away to change a light bulb one or two times, well, the LED light pays for itself.” The Clearlight’s low maintenance cost made it easy for the staff to convince the Board of Directors that this was the answer to replacing their unsupportable Mercury Vapor bulbs. Foote also pointed out that by using the Clearlight they could bypass the ballast. “This is one less thing to go wrong with the light. Emphasizing this, the Clearlight makes a lot of sense to utilities.” At first the linemen brought the fixtures in the shop and wired around the ballast, but as the need for replacements increased, “the lineman decided it would be just as easy to bypass the ballast in the field.”

When Evluma released the 50W Clearlight Beacon at the end of 2010, Ostego knew they had found their replacement. The fact that it was a retrofit was also appealing. “We liked that it wasn’t a radical change. We really didn’t want to take down 850 fixtures and throw them in the garbage when they could work for many years to come.” Switching from MV to LED was also in keeping with Otsego’s long-term efficiency efforts including engineering decisions and line upgrades, actions that would deliver about a 1% reduction in line loss. “Part of this is more efficient lighting, but it is other factors too.”

At first, while evaluating the original 40W EcoSpot, they had a few complaints from their members because the light output was more directional than they were used to. “We haven’t had any negative feedback on the Beacon. We did take one down and put in an EcoSpot for one member who felt the Beacon put out too much light.” In the past, Otsego has spray painted the sides of MV refractors to eliminate light trespass when members complained. “We started putting in EcoSpots in those situations. I can really see the need for having both products.”