Boulder buys streetlights from Xcel Energy, plans to replace bulbs with LEDs

DENVER ( KDVR ) — The city of Boulder has finalized the purchase of over 4,400 streetlights from Xcel Energy and plans to transition the streetlights to LED bulbs for better efficiency, reliability and cost savings.

In addition, the city says this will reduce light pollution and electrical generation pollution.

The city will begin converting the existing fixtures and lights to LEDs beginning in 2025. The city touted it as a way to reduce operation and maintenance costs by up to $1 million annually while decreasing the city’s carbon emissions by about 1,000 metric tons for the same time. According to Boulder, that would be equivalent to removing 254 gasoline vehicles from the road.

“We appreciate Xcel’s partnership throughout this process,” Sustainability Senior Manager Carolyn Elam said in a release. “Together, we explored a number of options to improve the streetlight experience for our community and ultimately concluded this was the best path forward.”

In addition, the conversion to the new lights will have “customized features” that were once unavailable to the city, including:

• Smart technology with real-time outage reporting
• Adjustable lighting for low-traffic periods to improve visibility and safety, and reduce light pollution while increasing energy savings
• Dark-sky-friendly light fixtures that focus light and reduce spillover that affects night-sky viewing and wildlife, such as migratory birds

“This investment highlights the city’s commitment to responsibly managing vital infrastructure while ensuring the thoughtful stewardship of community funds,” said City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde in a release. “We aim to lead by example in adopting innovative, quality technologies that support the natural environment, fund sustainability and prioritize the wellbeing of community members who travel and reside in Boulder.”

The purchase was funded by Boulder’s Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety Tax. The city anticipates the operational and maintenance savings will support streetlight upkeep, and could potentially be reinvested in future transportation projects. Boulder’s Transportation and Mobility Department also repurposed $755,400 in the 2025 budget to manage and maintain the streetlights.

Late last year, the city asked the community to select the new LED color temperatures . The city said the overwhelming preference of participants was for warmer lighting at 2700 Kelvin, “a conclusion additionally supported by best practices and technical analyses,” the city stated in its announcement.

The city committed to replacing lights in residential areas with the warmer color temperature moving forward.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.