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LED lights to cut Wayne school power bill

Herald-Dispatch photo by Lori Wolfe New LED bulbs and motion sensors have been installed at Spring Valley High School as part of a partnership between Wayne County Schools and American Electric Power.
Herald-Dispatch photo by Lori Wolfe
New LED bulbs and motion sensors have been installed at Spring Valley High School as part of a partnership between Wayne County Schools and American Electric Power.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The question wasn’t how many people it took to screw in a light bulb during a presentation at Spring Valley High School Thursday morning.

Instead, the question was how much money could the school save by installing more than 1,500 new LED light bulbs and motion sensors throughout the facility.

Initially, the answer is $56,729, coming from Appalachian Electric Power’s Smart Grid Program as a rebate on purchasing the light bulbs. And now the school system can start saving on its monthly power bill as the new, energy efficient bulbs are installed. A check for the rebate amount was presented to the school system from Phil Moye, a spokesman for AEP.

The presentation marked a starting point for the school system to eventually install the LED lights and sensors in all of its schools, Superintendent Sandra Pertee said.

“This is about our students,” Pertee said. “When we can have funding to give them more tools to prepare for their future, be productive citizens and be energy efficient, we have to embrace those opportunities.

This partnership, and what (AEP) brings to Wayne County to help us achieve a personal goal like today, we have to continue to embrace that in every entity of our system.”

Factoring in the rebates, the lights were installed at the school for a total cost of $1,200, said Matt Stanley, director of maintenance for the school system.

Stanley also said he expected that cost to be absorbed through the savings from next month’s power bill for the school.

The motion sensors will trigger the lights anytime a person approaches a classroom or restroom. If no motion is detected, the lights automatically will shut off after 15 minutes…

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