La Conner Marina Completes LED Lighting Upgrade

The Port of Skagit maintenance team marked a major milestone recently, by completing an upgrade to LED lighting at the La Conner Marina.

While the Port’s maintenance teams have been upgrading all Port facilities to LED lighting as needed when old lights burn out, a proactive and complete upgrade at the marina began in earnest several months ago to take advantage of bulk purchasing discounts and rebates from Puget Sound Energy.

This retrofit offers several positives for both the Port, its tenants and guest boaters. The LED lighting has a noticeably brighter light making it safer to walk the docks and ramps after dark, and LEDs don’t fade in intensity or yellow as they age like fluorescent bulbs are known to do.  Plus, the LED life expectancy is 6-10 times longer than fluorescent lights.

Perhaps the most measurable benefit of this upgrade is the operating costs of LED in comparison to fluorescent lights.  In total, 273 lights in the north and south basins alone were upgraded to LED, for an estimated savings of more than $2,500 annually, just in power consumption.  The decrease in ongoing maintenance and labor demands brought about by the longer life span of the LED bulbs will also provide additional savings to the Port.

“The Port of Skagit continues to support initiatives that provide benefit to our tenants and communities, while reducing maintenance costs to the Port,” stated Port Commission President Steve Omdal.  “Our maintenance staff have transitioned our marina lights to LED bulbs resulting in superior lighting while reducing Port energy costs.  It’s a win-win.”

LED upgrades are also occurring at other Port of Skagit sites, including Skagit Regional Airport, Bayview Business Park, and the SWIFT Center.  The Port maintenance team pushed to complete the La Conner Marina LED upgrade ahead of the busy boating season that begins in the spring.

In addition to the docks, La Conner Marina lighting upgrades were also completed in parking lots, street lights, the marina maintenance shop, RV Park, storage units, and various buildings and locations on the property.