City of Detroit wins Advanced Lighting Technology Demonstration Grant

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) today announced that the City of Detroit has won a $400,000 Advanced Lighting Technology Demonstration grant to upgrade street lights in six areas of the city.

LANSING – The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) today announced that the City of Detroit has won a $400,000 Advanced Lighting Technology Demonstration grant to upgrade street lights in six areas of the city. 

“The State of Michigan is pleased to partner with the City of Detroit and DTE Energy to replace aging and inefficient lighting infrastructure with highly efficient LED lighting,” said MEDC President and CEO Michael A. Finney. “MEDC welcomes opportunities to work with public and private partners to promote business and industry throughout Michigan.” 

Funding for the project is coming from unspent administrative funds awarded to the Michigan Energy Office to manage the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant Program. Grant funds will be used to purchase approximately 580 energy efficiency LED street lights which will replace inefficient mercury vapor lighting. The lights will be installed by DTE Energy and Detroit Public Lighting crews.  

“This grant supports one of my key initiatives of helping to make our city safer by improving street lighting for our citizens,” Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said. “We expect energy savings of about 60 percent across the project areas.” 

The six project areas include: Telegraph Road from Fullerton to Eight Mile Road; Fullerton Road from Ewald Circle to Schaeffer; Greenfield Road from Paul to Eight Mile Road; Hamilton, Fairway and Curtis between McNichols and Seven Mile; 14th Street from Grand Blvd. to Lawrence; and Waterman from N. Lafayette to West Vernor, Dix west of Vernor to Woodmere and Woodmere from Dix to Vernor. 

Grants are administered through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, which began in 2009 and ends in 2012. The Recovery Act included more than $2.4 billion for the EECBG Local Government Program, making funding available nationally to reduce energy use and improve energy efficiency in various sectors (buildings, transportation, etc.).  

In Michigan, $19.6 million was awarded to the state for administering competitive grants to small municipalities and $58.1 million was distributed to local governments and federally-recognized tribes directly through this program. 

For additional information on the Michigan EECBG Program, contact Jan Patrick, Manager, EECBG Program Manager, Michigan Energy Office at patrickj@michigan.gov.

 

The Michigan Energy Office is part of the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), which receives administrative services from the MEDC. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a public-private partnership serving as the state's marketing arm and lead agency for business, talent and jobs, focuses on helping grow Michigan's economy. For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit: MichiganAdvantage.org

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state’s marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan’s economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.