$900G in fed funds will go to Brookhaven streetlights

Brookhaven Town will be able to repurpose $900,000 in federal grant money to replace streetlight fixtures, state officials have confirmed.

Town officials last month asked the U.S. Department of Energy to repurpose the funds. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office confirmed the decision.

The $900,000 is what remains from a $4 million grant the department awarded to Brookhaven in 2009 in part for energy improvements to homes, town buildings and solar programs.

“This LED streetlight project will allow the town to save money through energy savings and replacement costs with repurposed grant funds,” Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward P. Romaine said in a statement last week.  

Brookhaven has 45,000 light fixtures and in recent years has replaced 5,000 of them.

The move is part of a larger project Brookhaven Town Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro has proposed to replace nearly half the town’s light fixtures.

He also wants the town board to consider a $4 million capital improvement project that would replace 20,000 old street lighting fixtures with energy-efficient lights over a two-year period.

He has said replacing the old lights would save the town $1 million in electricity costs over the two years.