In a regular meeting Thursday, CEO Darrell Wenzel reported to the board HMU was in discussion on changing all street lights in the city to LED lights. The project will cost $353,761. However, Wenzel said the annual savings in kilowatts will be over 800,000, which is a savings of $82,000. HMU will work on the project for the next 4 years. Wenzel said because HMU is doing it over a 4 year period, they will not have to contract a lighting design engineer.

He said a Utility company in northwest Iowa hired an engineer and their cost for the project doubled. HMU will use only in house labor to get the work done. Once the project is complete, HMU will save over $8,000 per year on maintenance. The other benefit to switching to LED lights is the warranty. The current street lights only have a 1 year guarantee while LED lights have a 10 year warranty. In other business, the board approved a new 30 year agreement with Western Area Power Administration or WAPA.

During the meeting, Wenzel said WAPA is “a source we would never want to give up.” HMU uses electricity from WAPA throughout the year and peaks during the summer.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)