Essex is the latest municipality to look into LED street lights.
Policy Planner Jeff Watson says the current system is decades old and needs replacing. "There have been a lot of complaints about these large silver poles that we have for street lights. They are rusty, the are 65-years-old and they are due for replacement. Basically this study was to look at what options are there."
Watson says an LED system carries a price tag of $1-million but would save the town money in the long run on replacement and maintenance costs.
"The big expense is not so much the pole replacement, it is the underground wiring," says Watson. "All these poles that are outside of the downtown are connected by overhead wiring and so it is a major cost to take everything from above ground to put it below ground. So the actual poles themselves are about an actual third of the total cost."
A report goes before council next month.