4 May 2011

A few weeks back we reported on a story out of Nova Scotia, Canada when the province Premier Darrell Decker introduced legislation that will mandate a complete conversion of street lights to SSL over the next five years. But some local municipalities were caught off guard and have complained that they had no input on the plan yet will ultimately pay the bill for installation.

The Cape Breton Post reported that Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM) president Bill Joe MacLean has questioned the plan and how municipalities will pay for it. MacLean is the mayor of Port of Hawkesbury and worries about how municipalities already struggling with debt load can make the conversion.

Dexter has aggressively defended his plan, arguing that energy and maintenance savings will pay the way for the upgrade. Dexter pointed out that the Amherst retrofit has already proven the savings that will accrue to a municipality making an upgrade.