You’re noticing the change because the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities converted 1,142 high-pressure sodium bulbs to more energy-efficient LED fixtures and lights. Chris Rodgers, BPU transmission and distribution manager, said the street light changes occurred along major corridors like Main, Second, Buffalo, Baker and Washington streets and along Foote and Fairmount avenues.

Also, the lights were changed in five neighborhoods in the city.

Rodgers said there was no scientific method used to determine what neighborhoods were selected for a light change. He said the locations were basically picked at random. He added it was a board directive to pick several locations in the city for the light change.

“We spread it out around the city,” he said.

A map indicating where the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities made a street light conversion from high-pressure sodium bulbs to more energy-efficient LED fixtures and lights. The BPU changed 1,142 of the 3,586 street lights in the city during the conversion. Submitted photo

The light conversion started in November and concluded in February, Rodgers said. Of the 1,142 lights changes, 765 were 150-watt and 377 were 400-watt lights. Originally, it was estimated that only about 900 lights would be changed. However, because the BPU crews making the changes were more efficient than predicted, they were able to change around 250 more lights. Doug Oakes, BPU electrical engineer and technician, said there are exactly 3,586 street lights in the city.

In 2016, city officials received a state grant for $555,000 the Department of State Division of Local Government Services, which was approved by the state Financial Restructuring Board for Local Governments. Last year, Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, said the city is expected to save around $50,000 annually because of the light conversion.

Along with the street light change, city officials also changed to LED lights at the Main Street and Cherry Street parking ramps. This conversion of 175-watt and 55-watt lights is expected to save city officials around $10,000 annually.

The BPU will also be making a LED street light conversion in the town of Ellicott and the village of Falconer. Rodgers said the Ellicott conversion has just started. He said they will be changing around 800 street lights — 529 in Ellicott and 250 in Falconer.

Mike Erlandson, Ellicott town clerk, said the town received a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority grant for $46,187 for the light conversion. He said town received the grant because they were designated a Clean Energy Community by NYSERDA. He added that all street lights served by the BPU in the town of Ellicott will be converted.