Published in the June 22, 2017 edition

By BILL LAFORME

NORTH READING – More than 1,000 LED streetlights have been installed in North Reading as part of Reading Municipal Light Department’s pilot program, which began in fiscal year 2015. Jane Parenteau of RMLD told selectmen that the utility had installed 581 LED streetlights in North Reading in fiscal year 2016, followed by 516 during the current one, fiscal year 2017.

RMLD has also been installing LED streetlights in the other communities it serves – Reading, Wilmington and Lynnfield, amounting to 2,184 in total this fiscal year. As of the end of the month, RMLD reportedly expects to have installed 5,305 LED lights throughout its service area.

LED streetlights help municipalities save on energy costs and manpower by using far less electricity than traditional bulbs and by requiring far less maintenance and changing over time.

Parenteau also said that RMLD’s new solar choice program has been a success, with a waiting list already formed for the utility’s second planned project phase. She added that more recently, RMLD has begun reaching out to the towns it serves to inquire about potential future solar energy RFPs for any of their buildings.