The UCONN at Avery Point campus, located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Thames River in Groton, CT is a public university offering liberal arts programs of study of 564 enrolled students.
Groton Utilities (GU), a member of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, provides and maintains streetlight to this 72 acre UCONN campus. The recognition of the need to upgrade the poletop lighting fixtures was the catalyst for GU to embark on the replacement of 121 – 175 watt high pressure sodium (HPS) pole top fixtures with 99 watt light emitting diode (LED) pole top fixtures. The expenditure of $242, 675 of RGGI funds anticipates UCONN at Avery Point to realize an annual energy savings and reduction in monthly peak demand of 53,356 kWhs and 12.8 kW, respectively. The equivalent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) attributed to this streetlight retrofit is estimated to be 25 tons of carbon dioxide.