The Village of Willowbrook has been approved for a grant of up to $25,000 by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation’s Street and Roadway Lighting Pilot Program.
The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation was established in December 1999 as an independent foundation with a $225 million endowment provided by Commonwealth Edison. Their mission is to improve energy efficiency, advance the development and use of renewable energy resources, and protect natural areas and wildlife habitat in communities all across Illinois. Over the past sixteen years, the Foundation has provided financial support for clean energy investments in Illinois through a variety of programs. To date, they have awarded over 5,000 grants providing $258 million to Illinois nonprofit organizations, schools, municipalities and other local and state government agencies.
The Village of Willowbrook’s LED Streetlight Retrofit Project is a streetlight replacement project in which the Village's antiquated, energy inefficient streetlights were retrofitted with new LED technology. The new LED lighting heads use a fraction of the energy the old heads used, provide more uniform lighting disbursement, and will also save money on future maintenance. During the months of June and July 2015, the Village contracted with Utility Dynamics to retrofit over 200 streetlights with new LED fixtures. The installation of these fixtures reduced the Village’s energy consumption from roughly 174,500 Kilowatt-hours per year to about 83,500 Kilowatt-hours per year. A reduction of around 91,000 Kilowatt-hours.
The Village is grateful to the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation for their generous support in helping the Village move forward on this worthwhile project.