Beginning this week, Utilities Kingston will be replacing 9,000 high wattage street light heads with LED fixtures to reduce energy use.

The project is city wide and expected to be largely completed by the end of 2013 at a cost of $4 million. In residential areas, fixtures containing 100-watt light bulbs will be replaced with 53-watt LED fixtures. In high traffic areas, crews will replace the fixtures containing 250-watt light bulbs with 101-watt LED fixtures.

“With the energy savings, the LED street light project should pay for itself in about seven years, but the new LED lights have an expected lifespan of 15-20 years,” said C.E.O. and President of Utilities Kingston, Jim Keech. “This effort makes Kingston’s street lights more economically and environmentally sustainable – enhancing our public infrastructure.”