In what looks like a straight-ahead street lighting upgrade — seemingly little to no Internet of Things (IoT) on this one — Knoxville, TN is replacing some 30,000 high-pressure sodium (HPS) luminaires with LED technology that the city says will cut energy costs in half and will also improve light quality.

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　　The $15 million installation calls for lead contractor Siemens to complete the job by June 2019, with Acuity Brands providing its Holophane luminaires and possibly its Roam wireless mesh control system.

　　“Our street lights are one of city government’s largest energy users, accounting for nearly 40% of our total municipal electricity consumption,” said Mayor Madeline Rogero, noting that Knoxville expects to cut its annual street lighting bill from around $4 million today to around $2 million. The city also expects the LED luminaires to last 4× as long as HPS, at around 100,000 hours compared to 24,000 hours.

　　Knoxville is paying Siemens around $9.5 million as the main contractor, and is paying $5.2 million to local utility Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) for past infrastructure investments in the lighting system. KUB owns most of the poles, while the city owns the brackets and lights that attach to them.