What to know
- Toronto will replace all street lights with energy-efficient LED systems by 2035 through a $570-million investment led by Toronto Hydro.
- The upgrade is expected to reduce energy consumption by over half and save about $6.5 million annually while modernizing aging underground infrastructure.
- Olivia Chow says the brighter, smart-controlled lights will improve safety and reliability, prioritizing neighbourhoods with the greatest need.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has announced a $570-million plan to substitute all its street lights for modern LED options, which she says will save taxpayer money in the long run by reducing energy costs and emergency repairs.
The mayor announced the million-dollar investment, which will be made through Toronto Hydro, during a news conference on Wednesday at the Milliken Park in Scarborough.
The investment will fund a full conversion of all street lights in the city to energy-efficient LED lighting with smart controls.
The city will also be upgrading underground infrastructure, which Chow says is outdated and has been costing taxpayers money to fix. According to her, nine out of 10 underground cables are now past their service lives, and the city has had to carry out multiple repairs recently.
“Under our agreement with Toronto Hydro, we’ve been relying on expensive temporary fixes and emergency repairs. Instead of upgrading [a] street light when we know it’s at the end of its life, we wait for it to go out. We wait for residents to notice it and then call 311. Then, we go and pay to send someone out to fix it. That approach is no longer good enough,” she explained.
“We all know it’s smarter to replace a decade-old roof than to call a contractor every month because rain or water is coming down on your ceiling. So, no more patchwork, no more expected costs hitting our budget.”
In addition to repairs, Toronto Hydro tells Now Toronto the LED technology use 40 to 60 per cent less energy than the conventional lighting currently being used in street lights. Meanwhile, the smart lighting controls which will also be a part of the upgrade could save an extra 20 per cent in energy.
“Following conversion, the City could achieve an annual energy savings of over $6 million. Beyond energy savings, LEDs have a considerably longer service lifespan. That longer lifespan means fewer streetlight outages, less truck rolls to address streetlight issues and lower maintenance over time,” spokesperson for Toronto Hydro wrote in an email.
According to Chow, the new structures will also offer brighter lighting, which she says will make streets safer.
“In neighborhoods like Milliken, that means safer, brighter streets for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, and fewer outages and faster repairs. We are prioritizing areas with the greatest needs. So investments are made where they will have the biggest impact on safety and reliability,” she added.
Toronto Hydro says street light conversion is already underway, with 10 per cent of them having already been replaced with LED fixtures. The full replacement is expected to be completed by 2035.
