On the agenda for tonight’s city commission meeting – upgrading 1,379 streetlights inside the city limits from “high-pressure sodium (HPS) and mercury vapor (MV)” lights to LED.

In a memo, Asst. City Manager David Junger states that the initiative is part of “a statewide Georgia Power initiative to work with local governments to upgrade roadway lights to LED lights”.  Georgia Power will foot the bill, so it’s no cost to the city.

Why do this?  Mr. Junger cites Georgia Power literature that states…

Georgia Power indicates that LED lights offer more safety because they produce a broader spectrum of light, which provides better illumination of street signs, bicyclists and pedestrians. LED light spreads more evenly, reducing fixtures are also more efficient, not only producing more light for less money, but also lasting much longer than traditional HPS fixtures.

From Downtown Decatur’s Twitter acct…

Tree down Lamont & Vidal. GA Power on scene. Power should be restored in 1.5 hrs

A reader sent in this eyewitness sign report a few days back…

Noted that signs at the Ga Power office at Church and Ponce says their move date to N DeKalb Mall is Oct 11.

Medlock Area Neighborhood Association reports that Georgia Power and Dollar Tree, along with a “Downhome Kitchen” are planning to open up in North DeKalb Mall in the coming months.

They also have a list of new potential retail prospects and updates from Golden Corral, the African American History Museum and the North DeKalb Mall Community Garden.

Check it out!

You may have noticed the “For Lease” sign hanging about the Georgia Power space in One Town Center in downtown Decatur at the intersection of Ponce and Church Street – since it’s been there for weeks now!  We had heard rumors that a restaurant was going into this space at one point, but perhaps that didn’t come to fruition.

Either way, the move out by Georgia Power is big enough news in and of itself, as one of the old remarks about Georgia Power was that the office location was a bit problematic since it brought a good number of cars downtown (customers paying bills), but didn’t really inject much money into the local economy.

It will be very interesting to see what ultimately goes into this space!

Sure, you could sit around and shake your head about Georgia’s 1973 “Territorial Electric Service Act“, and then spit out your morning cuppa when you hear Georgia Power’s defense of the law that prohibits selling power to anyone but a utility.  In the words of GPB “…the current law protects consumers and costs they pay. If some customers leave for third party suppliers, those remaining with a utility have to shoulder more of infrastructure maintenance costs.”

Umm…OK.

But really, it’s just a waste of perfectly good fair-trade coffee to expectorate your surprise, because guess what?  Solar power is getting cheaper by the day and silly arguments like the one above will be swept into the gutter as eco-freaks and neo-nomics alike will demand more solar options.

Why the cocky confidence?

Because price is the only real remaining hurdle for solar power to overcome and become the energy of choice for any reason.  Sure, if solar got a bit cheaper than its current price, more environmentally conscious folks would be up on their roofs installing panels.  But we’re not talking about a small price decline. We’re talking about the potential of costs so low that fossil fuels aren’t even a consideration anymore.  According to a recent article on Grist by solar expert Kees Van Der Leen, if solar PV capacity continues to grow at just half the rate it grew from 2005 to 2010 (49%), solar will become the cheapest energy option in the sunniest areas of the world by 2018.  6 years from now.  As capacity grows in the years following, the obvious result is solar eventually can become the cheapest option most anywhere in the world.

If it plays out the way it looks like it will, it’s a mind-blowing proposition.  One that will change the way the world thinks about and uses energy forever.  But few are talking about it yet.

They should be.  Because “the amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth’s non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.”, according to one Stanford study.

Hot damn.

The City of Decatur just put info up on its website announcing “DecaturWISE” (Worthwhile Investments Save Energy), which “is designed to help residential customers increase the energy efficiency and comfort of their homes through a comprehensive home energy analysis and rebates for the installation of energy efficient improvements.”  The program is funded by a Department of Energy grant to the City of Decatur under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

As the website notes, Georgia Power already offers up to $2,220 in rebates based on energy savings.  (More info on that program HERE) Decatur’s grant will award up to $1,000 in additional rebates to the homeowner.  According to the city, “the most impactful improvements to reduce energy use in Decatur homes include insulation, duct sealing and air infiltration reduction.”

Here’s the six step process on how to take advantage of this program, according to the city…

1. Contact a Program Contractor from the list below to schedule your home analysis. 2. Complete the home energy analysis. 3. Contractor will install energy saving upgrades. 4. Complete post-installation inspection 5. Contractor applies for rebates. 6. You receive money back!

The website lists three “participating contractors” in the area that can do the work and apply for the city’s rebate.  A quick look at one of the participating contractors’ websites shows that while savings vary by area, it is possible to exceed 50% savings on these projects.  Not a bad deal.