Germantown will swap about 5,300 orange sodium streetlights for LEDs from January, under a $2.83 million contract approved Monday. The city says the work should finish around May 2027.

Germantown’s orange streetlights are going. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday approved a $2.83 million contract to convert every Memphis Light, Gas and Water high-pressure sodium streetlight in the city to LED.

The city announced the decision in a news release on the streetlight contract. Memphis-based Path Company LLC will do the work under a turnkey contract. The board also approved a companion agreement with MLGW, which owns the lights.

Path Company has converted nearly 16,000 streetlights in Bartlett and Collierville, the city said. Collierville is about five miles east.

When the work happens

The city’s streetlight conversion project page gives this timeline:

  • installations start in January 2027, once materials arrive
  • crews work for 16 to 20 weeks, mostly in daylight
  • completion is expected in May 2027

The city said it will publish work-area timelines and neighborhood notification schedules before installation begins. It also plans an online map, updated daily, showing which streets are done.

What changes on your street

About 5,300 old fixtures are being removed, according to the project page. They include neighborhood post-top lamps, standard cobra heads and the larger pendants on main roads.

The city said the new lights:

  • use a warm 3,000-Kelvin color, MLGW’s standard, in place of the current orange glow
  • follow Dark Sky principles to cut glare and light pollution
  • carry a 10-year manufacturer warranty
  • have a cellular node that reports outages to MLGW automatically

MLGW will still own and maintain the lights after the swap. Its target for repairs is an average of no more than 30 days, the project page said.

The money

The city expects the conversion to pay for itself in about 10 years. LEDs use 50% to 60% less energy, which cuts the monthly fees Germantown pays MLGW for streetlights.

Paying the cost up front also keeps the new lights out of MLGW’s streetlight plant account. That avoids a 10.41% annual facility fee on them, the city said. Germantown will also collect TVA energy efficiency rebates.

There is a cost to retiring the old lights early. The city will pay MLGW a stranded asset fee of about $684,000 over 17 years, out of the savings. It plans to put the rest of the savings into street paving through its State Street Aid Fund.

The board’s documents are posted on the city site:

Path Company will send the old fixtures to the Binghampton Development Corporation in Memphis. Workers in its second-chance job training program will take them apart for recycling, the city said.

What it means for you

Nothing changes until January. Until the new lights go in, keep reporting a dark streetlight yourself. Use MLGW’s streetlight outage report form or call 901-320-1497.

Expect crews and marked trucks on neighborhood streets from January to about May. Check the city’s LED project page for the schedule for your area once it is posted.