Ocean City Opts To Convert Street Lights To LED; Annual Savings Estimated At $296K

OCEAN CITY — Ocean City is going all in on a plan to replace street lighting with LED fixtures after resort officials reviewed some options this week.

During Tuesday’s work session, the Mayor and Council heard a presentation from City Engineer Terry McGean and Delmarva Power officials about options for replacing the street lighting in most areas of the town. The presentation included three basic options, from simply doing nothing, to allowing Delmarva Power to replace the street lights with LED fixtures piecemeal at a rate of about five percent a year, or, finally, having Delmarva Power replace all of the street lights in one major project to be accomplished over a period of a year or so.

After reviewing the costs estimates for each option, it was essentially a no-brainer to go for the third option and the council ultimately voted unanimously to upgrade all the existing lights. Currently, there are a little over 1,300 street lights in Ocean City owned and maintained by Delmarva Power that are paid for by the resort. The town pays for the power distribution and other assorted costs for operating the 1,300-plus lights to the tune of around $575,000 a year.

By way of background, the town owns, maintains and pays for many street antique-style street lights in areas such as the Boardwalk, along Baltimore and St. Louis avenues and some areas of Philadelphia Avenue in the downtown area. There are other street lights owned and paid for by the State Highway Administration (SHA), including those in the recently-replaced median section from Convention Center Drive to 62nd Street, or the section equipped with a median fence prior to the current summer season, along with the street lights on the Route 50 and Route 90 bridges.

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