Harlan Kirgan
In January, Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot told Kiwanis Club members that the city had received a $1.6 million grant for LED lighting and the project was to start in six months.
Obviously, that schedule didn’t happen, but Fontenot said there’s been details to work out with Cleco.
“I think because of the fact it was the first of its kind,” he said.
The energy efficiency program grant is through the state Public Service Commission.
“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 in January.
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.
“... it was a deal with Cleco owning the pole and us putting up the lights that we want on their poles. I think that was the whole hold up,” Fontenot said.
“As far as I know it is good to go,” he said.
Fontenot said he is not prepared to give a date when the project will start.
The grant is $741,699 for recreation lighting and $872,969 for street lighting.
The city pays Cleco $10 a month for each of about 1,800 street lights in the city, he said in the earlier story. The $10 a month to Cleco will be eliminated when the LED lighting is installed, he said.
In January, Fontenot estimated the annual savings to city with the LED lighting will be $100,000 to $200,000.
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 in January.