Itron has signed a contract with the Tampa Electric Company to connect and make ‘smart’ new LED street lights in the West Central Florida district.
Tampa Electric will install more than 260,000 Itron smart photocells in the next five years, according to Itron. The new photocells bring connectivity to the lighting network.
The new LEDs produce less carbon emissions and are more energy efficient compared with traditional lighting infrastructure. By connecting them, the utility will be able control lighting fixtures remotely, including for dimming, and reduce costs.
It will also get automatic alerts of outages to reduce field visits and make prompt fixes. Itron said the impact will be felt in roadway safety and crime reduction, as well as in operational costs. Tampa Electric will be able to hang other smart city applications off the light nodes, as well, said Itron, such as for air quality management or smart parking.
Sharelynn Moore, senior vice president of Networked Solutions at Itron, commented: “The utility will have a foundation to support multiple smart utility and city applications both today and tomorrow.”
The LED upgrade was approved by the the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) a year ago, but only started at the end of 2018. Confirmation of Itron as supplier is new. Tampa Electric is a subsidiary of Canadian firm Emera.
Itron secured a parallel lighting deal with power company ComEd at the end of last month to drive smart city development in Chicago and the northern Illinois area. The ComEd deal covers around 140,000 municipal smart streetlights.
Since 2013, Silver Spring Networks — which was acquired by Itron — has collaborated with ComEd to deploy smart grid investments authorized by the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, or Smart Grid Law, enacted in 2011, including the communications system that supports the network of more than 4 million smart meters that have been installed in ComEd’s service region.
