Finance committee hears that LED upgrades haven't produced expected bill reductions

Committee members pressed staff about whether LED lighting projects produced the expected energy-savings and paybacks. A staff member said the city has not observed the anticipated decrease in bills for the administrative building and that on-bill financing can obscure usage changes.

"We have not seen a decrease in the... because we're paying for that," the staff member said, adding the conversion had not yet delivered a short-term cost reduction for that facility. Committee members recommended comparing 12-month kilowatt usage before and after conversion and examining cost per kilowatt to isolate whether usage or rate changes explain the discrepancy.

One member reported a five-year payback after an LED conversion in their office, but staff said differences in facility hours and eligibility criteria for certain programs (which require costlier lighting infrastructure) can change the outcome. The committee asked finance to prepare a simpler kilowatt-based comparison for affected facilities as part of the budget follow-ups.