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Ann Arbor plans to be the first U.S. city to convert 100 percent of its downtown lighting to LED technology. The city projects it will recoup it initial investment in 3.8 years and save $100,000 a year in lighting costs.

The implementation is being funded by a $630,000 grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.

LEDs provide the same light as traditional bulbs but typically burn five times longer and require less than half the energy. Each fixture draws only 56 watts and is projected to last 10 years, replacing fixtures with bulbs that use more than 120 watts and last only two years. In addition, the LEDs contain no lead or mercury.

Detroit Edison, Ann Arbor’s local utility provider, will meter the new LED streetlights in order to gather sufficient information to develop new LED-based tariffs.

Durham, N.C.-based Cree Inc. manufactures the semiconductors inside Ann Arbor’s new LED lights.

By installing the new LED lighting, Ann Arbor joins Raleigh, N.C. and Toronto in the LED City initiative, an expanding community of government and industry parties working to promote LED lighting technology across municipal infrastructures with the goals of saving energy, protecting the environment, reducing maintenance costs and providing better light quality for improved visibility and safety.