Industry News
DOE Releases Consortium Financial Tool
February 09, 2012
The U.S. Department of Energy's Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium has released an economic cost-benefit analysis tool to help cities, utilities, and other organizations estimate the costs and impacts of switching to street lighting that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
The Excel-based Retrofit Financial Analysis Tool was developed in collaboration with the Clinton Climate Initiative. Users input data on the relevant variables for their particular application – such as the incumbent technology, quantities, phase-in period, prevailing electricity and labor rates, sales tax, installation cost, loan interest rate, and rebates – to get a detailed analysis that includes annualized energy-cost savings, maintenance savings, greenhouse gas reductions, and simple payback.
This information is useful not only for planning and budgeting purposes, but also in applying for financing. In a market where the cost of LED street lighting has dropped more than 25 percent in the past year alone, it can help cities accurately evaluate costs in today's dollars.
