EEC/11/2/HQ Environment Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee 19 January 2011 Street Lighting in Devon – Carbon and Cost Reduction Initiatives Report of the Executive Director of Environment, Economy and Culture 1. Introduction An Executive Member Decision to extend the current County Council Policy on part-night lighting of residential areas to the A and road network B (see Appendix I) has been called in for scrutiny. This report sets out the background to that decision and reports on alternative energy savings measures and reports progress on achieving the Policy objectives for delivery of carbon and cost savings for street lighting. 2. Background In Devon, there are over 72,000 street lighting units 12,000 illuminated traffic signs, beacons and illuminated bollards. There are 85 parishes/towns, out of a total of 424, that do not have any County Council street lighting. 2.1 Carbon Management The Carbon Management programme, introduced by the County Council in June 2007 in response to the Government’s Carbon Trading proposals, included an analysis of the County Council’s Carbon footprint. Street Lighting was shown to contribute 38% to the total County Council footprint. A street lighting carbon reduction programme was therefore developed to reduce the energy consumption of the street lighting stock and, as a consequence, the carbon output from street lighting. The introduction of part-night lighting was approved by Executive at its meeting of 13 January 2009; this decision was subsequently called in by Environment, Economy and Culture Overview/Scrutiny Committee and considered at its meeting of 20 January 2009. The Committee resolved that Executive be recommended to amend the policy to include consultation with local County Councillors and the Police. Executive considered this recommendation at its meeting of 24 February 2009 and on the basis that such consultation would take place in line with normal protocols resolved “that the decision of the Overview/Scrutiny Committee be noted and that Committee being satisfied with the original decision as set out above the Executive’s decision at Minute *994 be implemented with immediate effect” The adopted policy is for the phased introduction of part-night lighting in residential areas. This will mean some streetlights that were previously on all-night long will now be lit between dusk and about 12:30am and will then be switched off until about 5:30am, before coming on again until dawn. This is the most cost-effective solution for maintaining a street lighting service and delivering reduced carbon emissions. It is similar to the approach in other local Highway Authorities. It is also the approach that has been taken by the Highways Agency on parts of the M5 in Devon and elsewhere, where non-essential motorway lighting has been turned off for part of the night. The energy used by street lighting produces an estimated 20,000 tonnes of CO 2 every year and the current programme will cut this by an estimated 4,000 tonnes a year. The current policy in Devon is that main road lighting and areas of high night-time activity, such as town centres, will remain lit all night, but consideration will be given to late night dimming of these lights where possible. 2.2 Consultation The Devon and Cornwall Police are consulted on individual part-night lighting schemes to ensure that considerations of crime, disorder and road safety in residential areas are taken into account during the decision-making process. Similarly, local views are input through consultation with the local County Councillor and by providing information on the proposals to representatives of the local community in the form of the Parish or Town Council. A list of communities that have now had residential areas converted to part night lighting is presented in Appendix II. 2.3 The Need for Further Reductions in Energy Consumption Energy cost increases in 2010 saw the energy bill for street rising from £2.2million a year to an estimated £3.4million a year in 2011. The current programme for the delivery of part night lighting in residential areas would see the estimated energy cost fall to £3.0 million based on the current energy rate which is fixed until October 2011. The estimated saving on completion of the programme relating to the current policy, is £600k a year. In addition to the direct cost of street lighting energy, the County Council will be impacted by the Carbon Reduction Commitment. Under changes introduced by the Coalition Government as part of the CSR, the Commitment effectively imposes an additional tax on carbon use, estimated initially at an annual cost to the County Council of £700,000 – a third of which will relate to street lighting. In parallel with the part night lighting policy other opportunities for reducing energy usage and hence carbon emissions are being pursued including: • The removal of non-essential lighting. This covers both street lighting and illuminated signs and bollards. • Fitting of energy efficient switch gear for the control of street lighting units. • Reduce lighting levels where possible on specific routes. • Where it is competitive, convert to green energy supply sources. • Evaluate, trial and, where viable, implement new technology to improve sustainability. 3. Ongoing Policy Development The current County Council administration has a Strategic Plan pledge to cut its own carbon emissions by 2.1% per year. A key policy objective of the coalition Government is to cut carbon emissions. The street lighting carbon saving programme is fundamental to achieving these policy objectives. Cuts in Government funding to local authorities have emphasised the need to save on revenue costs where ever possible. The provision of street lighting is not a statutory duty of the County Council, and as such there is flexibility in the level of service that can be provided. The early street lighting policy changes focussed on residential areas, where levels of late night traffic (vehicular and pedestrian) are low. This has enabled the service to continue to provide lighting when it is needed, but to withdraw it when it is not. The balanced approach that has been taken, that includes exception criteria if there is evidence of night crime, has on the whole, been successful and to date about 28% of the available conversions in residential communities, have been delivered. The remaining 72% is programmed for delivery in the next two years. Adopting the same measured approach, based on a risk analysis, approval was sought to introduce part-night lighting on sections of the A and B road network, where appropriate. There are approximately 11,000 street lights on A and B roads, some of which are the lanterns with the heaviest power consumption. The Cabinet Member decision, attached at Appendix I, proposed this in the light of the cost comparisons shown in Section 4 of this report, which demonstrate that part night operation is more cost effective than dimming. The proposed risk management approach is set out in Section 5. The existing approach to consultation on part night lighting, as set out in 2.2 above, would continue to be applied. 4. Cost Comparison of Alternative Energy Saving Approaches The following table sets out the implementation costs, energy cost savings, carbon savings and return period for alternative street lighting energy saving proposals for a 70 watt high pressure sodium lamp, which accounts for 62% of the County Council’s lighting stock: Scheme Implementation Energy cost Carbon saving Return Cost saving per year Period Part night lighting £20.33 £16.89 0.097 tonnes 1.2 yrs Night dimming £90.00 £13.31 0.077 tonnes 6.8 yrs (50% light output) * Solar power £1,500 - £2,000 £34.08 0.196 tonnes 44 - 58.7 yrs Low power conversions £170.00 £19.35 0.085 tonnes 8.8 yrs (70 watt to 45 watt) * Assuming that existing lantern can be retrofitted with necessary electronic gear, otherwise new lantern required and implementation cost will be approximately £300 and 22.5 yr return period. The costs of carbon trading have not been included in the above calculations. 5. Risk Management Approach. A risk management approach means that each section of A & B road would be examined on its merits for inclusion is a part night lighting scheme. The criteria that would be examined would include: • Night time traffic flows, • Speed limit, • Highway geometry, • Collision data records, including causational data. Concerns have been expressed by some about the potential risk of increased crime resulting from a move to part night lighting. However, experience from both Devon and elsewhere suggests that there is a tendency towards reduced crime levels in areas with part night lighting. 6. Budget Implications Street lighting is a significant element of the overall highway budget. In the “Tough Choices” consultation process on the impact of reduced budgets on service delivery, street lighting was rated as top priority for those services most identified for cuts in funding, with a 72% of respondents in favour of reducing expenditure. One of the top rated suggestions for savings from the 2,600 people who responded to Tough Choices on line was to turn more streetlights off at midnight (4.5/5 rating) The total budget for street lighting in 2010/11 was £5.33 million of which £2.85 million was for energy costs. The other main areas of budget spending in 2010/11 are: • £0.98 million for the replacement of deteriorated equipment; • £0.347 million for minor renewals/lantern replacements, and • £0.285 million for routine maintenance/electrical testing. In 2011/12, with severe pressure on budgets, the increases in the energy rate in October 2010 and a further rate increase expected in October 2011, spending on energy will need to rise to cover increases in energy prices, to £3.35 million.