A petition filed recently with the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) seeks to require LEDs be used in all new street and area lights to save money and energy. It’s said to the requirement would save NorthWestern Energy customers between $800,000 and $2.5 million a year.

Ron Tussing, mayor of Billings and one of the petitioners and Paul Williamson, former dean of the University of Montana’s College of Technology, jointly filed the petition Jan. 23. They filed as individuals and not in any official capacity. Williamson and Tussing said LEDs cut maintenance costs because bulbs don’t have to be replaced as often, they focus light where it is needed and can be dimmed or put on motion sensors in rural areas. LED technology uses semiconductor diodes to create light.

Billings attorney Russ Doty, an alternative-energy advocate, is serving as counsel for Tussing and Williamson’s petition. Doty noted a U.S. Department of Energy report in December on a street light demonstration project in San Francisco compared LED and high-pressure sodium lamps. The study found the payback period for new construction ranged from 3.7 years to 6.3 years for the two best LED lamps tested. The payback period for retrofits with the two fixtures was 7.4 to 10.8 years. While lighting performance varied among the LED lamps, the energy savings potential was high, with energy reductions of 50 percent to 70 percent over sodium lamps.

The petition also seeks to require LED retrofits within a year of when the rule becomes effective or when a utility’s supply of non-LED lamps is depleted, and provides for variances in case of financial hardships or other reasons. Jim Paine, a PSC attorney, said the next step is to publish a notice with the secretary of state and to decide whether to have a hearing or accept written comments. “We’ll probably be processing this in April,” he said, to determine whether to adopt or decline the proposal or make modifications.

Tussing said he doesn’t think the PSC is going to have an epiphany. There are reasons for not making the switch, but they’re not as good as they used to be. LED technology is getting better, he said. Although Tussing filed the petition as a citizen, as mayor he has been pushing the city to consider using LEDs in new lighting districts. The City Council will hold a hearing Feb. 9 on a lighting district for the area that includes the new Cabela’s store, and the mayor wants some discussion of LEDs.

In Montana, the state Department of Transportation is testing LED street lights at Gabel Road and Zoo Drive on the West End and by Newman Elementary School, 605 S. Billings Blvd. Two of four street lights at the intersection of Gabel and Zoo have LED lamps while two are high-pressure sodium lamps, said Charity Watt Levis, DOT spokeswoman. A manufacturer approached the department for a test. She said the testing began in late September and has gone past the 90-day trial period. The department will do a cost analysis and evaluate the effectiveness of the lighting. The LED lamps cost $950 each; the high-pressure sodium lights cost $200 for a 400-watt lamp. The DOT also is using LEDs in new traffic lights, she said.