by KYW’s Mike Dunn

A city council hearing on switching to more efficient LED-style streetlights in Philadelphia uncovered a disturbing fact — the amount the city could save with new lights is limited by its contract with PECO.

City council’s Streets Committee held a hearing on new LED streetlights that other municipalities are slowly adopting. 

But officials from the Streets Department admitted that the city’s deal with PECO would severely limit any savings. 

Commissioner Clarena Tolson says of the $15 million that the city pays each year to light the street lamps, two-thirds of that is a fixed connection charge to PECO that would stay constant with more efficient lights:

“Given the present structure, it does challenge us to do something differently with our system.”

Tolson said this structure of the city’s deal with PECO is set by the state Public Utility Commission. 

Another deterrent to switching to LED lights, she said, are the start-up costs, which could be at least $80 million.