RINGTOWN -- The borough of Ringtown in Schuylkill County is one of the first taking part in a new PPL program to make communities more energy efficient.
PPL is replacing the old orange glowing street lights with bright white, energy saving LEDs.
The streets of Ringtown will soon look different in the dark. The streetlights will no longer cast an orange yellow glow. PPL is replacing 97 of them as part of a new program to help communities upgrade old lighting systems with energy efficient LED lights.
"More natural lighting, better lighting, because the LED lights carry a little better than the high pressure sodium," said Ringtown council president Julian Milewski.
If streetlights are older than 10 years, PPL pays the whole cost to replace them is around $170 a light.
Milewski says Ringtown's lights are decades old. The borough only has to pay to replace one of 97.
"When they said if your lights are 10 year or older there will be no cost, I sat down and calculated. I only had to change one light so I said let's do it and see what comes in. $172 dollars to change all the lights in the borough."
"It would give the town a new perspective, because it's been an old town," said Kaitlyn Lorah who works at Ringtown Luna's Pizzeria on Main Street.
"Especially right in front of the pizza shop, it's really dark," Lorah said, adding that it would be an improvement.
Besides just getting new street lights, PPL also recommends communities like this shop around for their electricity supplier just like homeowners can. Ringtown is already doing that.
"So far it's looking really good for us," said Milewski. "There is a delay until they get the actual lights and do the installation but we're hoping to have this completed by this summer."
Now Ringtown pays a $14,000 electric bill for street lights. The upgrade should save around $500 a year.
More information on the program is available from PPL.