Harlan Kirgan
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot finally put to public light a $1.6 million grant the city has received to upgrade its street and recreational lighting to LEDs.
The energy efficiency program grant is through the state Public Service Commission, Fontenot said a Eunice Kiwanis Club meeting Thursday.
“We applied on May 15. We were the only municipality to have our application turned in complete. So, we got all of the funding that we asked for,” he said.
Funding for the grant comes from a fee on utility bills, he said. About $15 million is available each year and recently the grant was opened up to political subdivisions such as cities and school districts.
The city now pays Cleco $10 a month for each of about 1,800 street lights in the city, he said. The $10 a month to Cleco will be eliminated when the LED lighting is installed.
The annual savings is estimated at $100,000, but Fontenot believes that amount will be about $200,000.
The grant is $741,699 for recreation lighting and $872,969 for street lighting.
The project is to start within six months, he said.
“You are going to start seeing a huge difference,” he said.
One outcome is the brighter lighting may help deter crime, he said.
“This is something we can all be proud of it. It is going to be unbelievable,” he said.