Street light replacement project

We anticipate this project will be completed by mid-2023.

We’ve contacted and are working with remaining customers whose communities are on the installation schedule in 2023.

Through this project, you'll have the opportunity to review and update your lighting design. For example, you can add street lights in darker areas where there are existing BC Hydro poles, remove street lights that are no longer needed and change current lighting levels. It’s important to note that there will be an additional cost to modify your lights or add additional ones.

We’ve contacted customers based on our installation schedule to provide specific information about the conversion. This will include a list of your existing street lights and the LED replacement options. You'll need to confirm your selections prior to installation.

If you need help with your lighting design, we encourage you to hire a lighting design consultant as BC Hydro does not provide this service. BC Hydro's Alliance of Energy Professionals can provide you with referral to qualified lighting consultants.

We encourage you to maintain an inventory of existing street lights and to assess your street lighting design needs to determine if you need to make changes to your lights.

It's also important that we continue to have the correct contact information for the individual responsible for street lighting in your community. Please email us if you need to update your contact information.

The installation of LED street lights is to meet federal regulations. Therefore, customers who want to continue using BC Hydro’s street lighting service are unable to opt-out.

In 2008, new federal regulations were enacted that require all light ballasts containing Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) greater than 50 ppm be removed by the end of 2025.
 

The overhead street lighting rate (rate schedule 1701) is a flat monthly rate per light based on the wattage of the street light. In addition to the estimated electricity used, the monthly rate also includes the costs for transmission and distribution, the street light assets, installation, and ongoing maintenance.

Although LED street lights are more energy-efficient, BC Hydro will incur considerable costs to convert existing lights to LEDs. These costs will need to be recovered through a new rate.

To ensure all customers are treated fairly, all customers will be charged the same rates once we start installing LED street lights.

The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) approved our application to update our street light rate. Learn more about our street light rate.

While LEDs are more energy-efficient than high-pressure sodium street lights and require less maintenance, converting all street lights in the province to meet federal regulations does have significant costs, including removing existing street lights prior to their end-of-life and before they are paid off. This means the energy and maintenance savings associated with LEDs will be offset by the associated capital costs of buying and installing the LEDs.

The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) approved our application to update our street lighting rate. These rates were approved on November 1, 2021 and are currently in effect.

On February 12, 2020, the BCUC approved an interim temporary supplemental charge intended to recover the undepreciated value of current street lights being removed before their end of life. Effective May 1, 2021, a charge of $2.06 per month, per street light for all street lights will be billed to accounts under Rate Schedule 1701. The charge will end on March 31, 2024.