Street lamps to get brighter, whiter, cleaner and greener

A new Guernsey Electricity scheme will see the island's street lamps fitted with LED lights.

They will be brighter and more energy efficient but it will initially mean slightly bigger bills for the parishes for the next few years to cover the costs of buying the new lights. Grandes Maisons Road in St Sampson's and Le Pollet in St Peter Port have already had the new energy efficient lights as existing ones there needed replacing.

The utility's senior distribution engineer, Michel Preece, said the new lights were an improvement and could last up to 40 years. 'The LED lights technology has come a long way and the light output is now better,' he said. 'The new lights also have a much more natural colour. These ones have a whiter, brighter light, so they will be clearer.'

The new lamps will last for 100,000 hours, compared to between 5,000 and 10,000 hours – about two years – for the old lights. Some lamps are being retrofitted to take LEDs and these last 35,000 hours – about 15 years. There are about 2,000 street lamps in Guernsey and the majority are in Town and St Sampson's. In St Peter Port, where the lights are more ornate, more expensive lamps have been used.

Guernsey Electricity charges the parish for the maintenance and electricity for each lamp – that means it will cost £40 per lamp per year in St Peter Port and £15 per lamp per year in the other parishes. This will cover the cost of the lamps over the next 25 years. While this is an increase to cover the cost of the new lamps, the lights use less power, so the usage charge will fall.

As the lights are only being changed as the old ones fail, it could take up to 20 years to convert all the lamps to LEDs.