CTA’s 77th Street Garage Shines a Light on Savings with its Newly Installed, Energy-Efficient LED Lighting Fixtures
May 18, 2022
A Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus garage in Chicago’s bustling Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood broke up with metal halide lighting and began a more vibrant, cooler relationship with energy-efficient LEDs through the ComEd Energy Efficiency program.
Through the project, forty-five 400-watt halide fixtures were replaced with 135-watt, energy-efficient, high-bay LED fixtures that radically improves visibility, lasts longer, better support electrical demand and reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.
“This upgrade really made a huge difference in the quality and coverage of light at the garage,” said Kate Tomford, senior analyst at CTA.
“At ComEd, we are committed to helping all customers participate in and benefit from the clean energy transition, and we’re proud to offer energy efficiency programs to help our public sector customers save energy and money,” said Erica Borggren, ComEd’s vice president of customer solutions. “The energy efficiency project at CTA’s 77th street garage is expected to lower energy use by more than 100,000 kilowatt-hours, which is estimated to save CTA nearly $8,000 a year on its electric bill.”
100,000 kilowatt hours?
The 100,000 kilowatt-hours in energy savings created by the LED lights could instead power nearly 12 ComEd homes for an entire year. The environmental benefits of this transition are substantial – this energy savings equates to removing more than 86,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or planting 47 acres of trees.
CTA is the nation’s second-largest public transportation system, and the 437,177 square foot southside garage supports the equipment that moves thousands of Chicagoland riders. The southside garage provides mid-day and overnight bus storage, routine bus maintenance and repairs, bus refueling and interior/exterior bus cleaning for 17 bus routes.
“One of our top priorities is to always ensure that we are providing a safe and clean traveling experience for our customers,” said President Dorval R. Carter, Jr., CTA. “As ridership numbers continue to move in a positive direction, we want our riders to know that we value them and that we remain committed to providing them with a comfortable transit experience.”
The ComEd Energy Efficiency Program, which is funded in compliance with state law, offers a range of services and incentives to help families and businesses save money and use energy more wisely. Since 2008, the program has helped customers save nearly 62 million megawatt-hours of electricity, the amount of energy it takes to power more than 7.1 million ComEd customers’ homes.
The program recently received the highest level of recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy with an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence Award.
For more information on how ComEd helps customers save money and energy, visit ComEd.com/HomeSavings for residential customers and ComEd.com/BizSavings for business customers.
