Ann Arbor, Michigan: Bright Lights, Small City

In October 2007, Ann Arbor, Mich., pledged to be the first city to change all its downtown streetlights to LEDs. As of January 2009, the city had retrofitted 846 of 1,046 downtown streetlights, according to Mike Bergren, assistant field operations manager of Ann Arbor.

The initiative is funded by a $640,000 grant from the Downtown Development Authority. When completed, the streetlight retrofit is estimated to save the city $100,000 per year, Bergren said.

The city also started testing 20 LED streetlights on a centralized control system. "We are piloting a project where we are using RF [radio frequency] controls on them that allow us to turn them on, turn them off, flash them, dim them -- whatever we want," he said.

Bergren said the pilot has been well received by everyone who has worked with it, particularly first responders. "We can flash our streetlights if we want," he said. "If you're having a heart attack at 123 Main St. and dispatch gets the call at night, they can flash the lights -- or even during the day, flash the lights -- in front of that business, saying ‘OK, we have a medical emergency here.' That way, the responders can know where to go."

Ann Arbor also plans to use the centralized control to flash the streetlights during emergency warnings, like tornadoes, to aid hearing-impaired citizens.