The State Government of New York announced that it has replaced more than 286,000 street lights with LEDs to conserve energy. This investment is notwithstanding the fact that the New York Power Authority derives 80 percent of its electricity through hydropower. The State estimated  that cost savings of up to 65 percent can be achieved through replacing halogen bulbs with LED equivalents.

In an era of increased concern over SGE and imperatives imposed by large chains on suppliers, there could be opportunities to reduce power costs by converting incandescent and fluorescent bulbs to LEDs. The return on capital investment should however be projected using DCF analysis given the long-term projection of savings and the inevitable escalation in the cost of power.