Government & Politics
New Tech May Mean Darien Street Lights Cost Less, Do Much More
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Imagine Darien’s street lights needing less maintenance, using less electricity, costing less, providing better light and maybe doing something more — like helping provide WiFi service to cars. That could happen in a few years with a combination of recent LED lighting technology, Internet technology, state regulations allowing towns to buy light fixtures from Eversource, and utility rebates for upgrading equipment — all of which is now available to Darien. Oh, one more thing — the town or even first responders in an emergency could adjust a street light if, say, more lighting was needed at an accident scene. Or the town could make a lighting adjustment at one particular street light if it was bothering a neighborhood. All these possibilities were brought up in a presentation Monday to the Board of Selectmen by Jack Hanley from ESCO Energy Services Company, a business that advises clients in ways to save money by adopting energy-efficient systems, and then helping to run them.