City’s streets could be lit with LEDs by 2012

San Francisco’s streets could all be basking in the glow of highly-efficient light-emitting diodes within several years.

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff members are proposing spending $16 million over the next two fiscal years to replace all of the energy-hungry high pressure sodium vapor bulbs in The City’s cobra-head street lights with Led systems.

Over the same period, staff proposed spending an additional $2.1 million for various streetlight improvement efforts.

The SFPUC owns and operates an estimated 17,600 street lights and a part of the project will involve identifying and counting street lights owned by other city departments, according to power official Barbara Hale.