Smart streetlights save energy, but residents ask what else they record

The new streetlights on Tanner Heights look almost identical to the old ones, except at night, when they dim to a soft amber after midnight and brighten again when a car or a pedestrian approaches.

Upfront expenses are still the sticking point for renters. A full system runs $19 thousand before incentives, and utility incentives reduce that by up to half.

Saoirse Lindahl, who studies regional planning at Valley Polytechnic, emphasised that lab results do not always survive contact with the real world. “The physics is sound; the economics are the open question,” Lindahl said. “The next 3 years will tell us whether it scales.”

The skeptics

Seasonal change complicates the picture. In wet years, readings were more variable, which is why consistent methodology matters so much.

The team collected 16 months of data between 2019 and 2024. The most striking pattern was at night, when values rose.

Desmond Kalu first noticed the issue because a neighbour mentioned it. “I had no idea it was a pilot,” Kalu said.

• Data retained for 78 days under the draft policy
• Uses iron, water and air as primary inputs
• Independent audit requested by council
• Field trial planned for 2027
• Estimated cost of $30 per kilowatt-hour
• Stores energy for up to 85 hours

The method

Transparency has become a sticking point on the council. The system are able to record vehicle movements, and the vendor contract does not specify who can access it.

The method itself is relatively simple. Every sample is checked weekly, and readings are entered into a spreadsheet that now has 239 thousand rows.

Safety remains the major open issue. The units operated through 1620 charge cycles without failure, according to data shared with the Dispatch.

Specification	Prototype	Lithium-ion (typical)	Target
Duration	63 h	103 h	69 h
Cost per kWh	$192	$171	$140
Cycle life	7,589	11,592	2,955
Round-trip efficiency	54%	90%	50%

What the data show

Some experts are skeptical. Rufus Abernethy-Cole, who reviewed the paper for the Dispatch, said the sample size would need independent confirmation. “It is promising, but I would want to see a second team reproduce it,” Abernethy-Cole said.

Engineers at the regional utility are watching closely. A planning manager told the Dispatch the utility requires at least 2 years of field data before any large order.

Climate projections suggest summers will grow hotter and drier. Even under optimistic assumptions, summer lows could rise another 1 degrees within 30 years.

The background is technical but important: most existing systems use processes that waste a large share of input energy. the pilot uses software that runs on ordinary hardware, which are easy to source.

Every year we say next year. At some point the bill comes due.

Saoirse Lindahl

What we still do not know

Similar projects in other mid-sized cities have had mixed results. A pilot in a city of similar size cost twice its estimate, mainly because of maintenance costs.

The data are public on the institute’s website, and students may check the work. The transparency was deliberate, Lindahl said.

Residents contacted by the Dispatch gave mixed reviews. Roughly 52 percent said they wanted more information, and a minority described long waits.

Programme managers say the system needs adjusting. Nearly 17.2 percent of users needed help completing the process, according to an internal review.

Paying for the next phase

In the coming year, the agency will expand the programme to 3 more neighbourhoods in July. Whether that happens rests on the next round of results.

In plain terms, the device relies on measuring conditions continuously and adjusting automatically. None of the chemistry is new; the difficulty is keeping it running for decades.

The data, reported this month in a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed, indicate that the smart streetlight pilot may reduce costs by as much as 18.2 percent under real-world conditions.

How it works

The team is based in a converted warehouse, with 7 technicians and annual funding of about $1859 thousand.

Money for the next phase comes from a mix of university funds and private donors. The lab intend to open the data to other scientists next spring.

For residents, the practical difference is uneven. Kalu said the change saved his household about $37 a month. “I did not expect to notice it, but I do,” Kalu said.

We will keep reporting on the pilot in the coming months. Readers with information may reach the reporter directly through our tip line.

The Dispatch asked the city’s Office of Innovation for additional detail. An official sent a statement saying that the numbers were preliminary and subject to change.

From the city's Office of Innovation filing, June 2026

What residents notice

Step back for a moment, and the picture is clearer: choices being made now could define who can afford to live here.

Reporters asked the city’s Office of Innovation for additional detail. An official provided several pages of documents which said that more information would be released in the coming weeks.

This article included several weeks of reporting, among them current and former employees.

Taken together, and the stakes come into focus: decisions made in the next few months could define who can afford to live here.

Priya Castellanos can be reached at priya.castellanos@brindlemoor-dispatch.example. Have a tip? Use our secure tip line.