Recently, my local utility SCE has been replacing whole groups of existing HPS fixtures with new HPS fixtures for some unknown reason. What I find kinda odd, is the majority of fixtures they’re replacing had nothing wrong with them and were working just fine without any need for repairs or replacement. The new fixtures even have the same specs, wattage, and everything like the ones they replaced.

It’s kinda like they’re replacing fixtures aimlessly, some of the fixtures weren’t even that old either. I’m talking hundreds of rows of fixtures just randomly being replaced. I don’t understand, especially since the city they’re doing this in, is going to convert to LED eventually. The existing fixtures were mostly GEs of various models, and the new fixtures are Cooper OVHs. It is pretty unusual so I wanted to share this.

Unusual and interesting!, our council started doing odd things a year before we got LED, they were fitting new bowls to the SOX lanterns that had lost them in wind!, it’s this that got me thinking they were keeping them at first!
Unless they have to prove to the city that they have depleted street lighting stocks, before they can get a budget for new lanterns?

Unusual and interesting!, our council started doing odd things a year before we got LED, they were fitting new bowls to the SOX lanterns that had lost them in wind!, it’s this that got me thinking they were keeping them at first!
Unless they have to prove to the city that they have depleted street lighting stocks, before they can get a budget for new lanterns?

Indeed, they could have a surplus in new fixtures to install. Another thing I've though of is maybe they'll get make money from recycling newer fixtures (if a LED conversion comes around). I've also heard SCE spot replaces older fixtures (if somewhere around 20+ years old) even if they're still good, which IMO is wasteful, but the fact they're replacing whole city blocks is odd.

It may be the principle of group relamping pushed to a whole new level.

I think it's going to be a fairly common thing with LED streetlights, their only standard parts (to my knowledge) being the photocontrol and its socket, maybe the ballast/driver to a lesser extent. And if utilities change streetlight models like they change shirts, good luck keeping a stock of spare parts!

And we're being told how we must stop over-consumption... 

It may be the principle of group relamping pushed to a whole new level.

I think it's going to be a fairly common thing with LED streetlights, their only standard parts (to my knowledge) being the photocontrol and its socket, maybe the ballast/driver to a lesser extent. And if utilities change streetlight models like they change shirts, good luck keeping a stock of spare parts!

And we're being told how we must stop over-consumption... 

Unfortunately I think you're right. Unlike HID luminaires, LEDs still for the most part use luminaire specific parts. In my area they seemed to have standarized on a few models of LED luminaires but time will tell if they will spot replace or group replace failed units. There was a brief moment failed LED luminaires were spot replaced with HPS luminaires.

I've heard of utilities doing repairs and replacements before LED conversions when the municipality wishes to acquire the system from the electric company, and wants it to start out in good working order.  But if the lights were operational, that's hard to explain.  Here they changes out a number of HID luminaires with LED due to spot replacements, and now many of those LED lights are being changed to newer LED as part of a larger conversion.  One (a COB retrofit bulb) was only in place about a week.

I'd say they are definitely trying to get the HPS stock off of their books ! The company I work for has to do a physical inventory every quarter of the fiscal year . I've notice over the years that when inventory time gets near , older items seem to just "disappear" from the stock room so they don't have to inventory them .

As for repairing or servicing fixtures right before replacement , I've seen that also here. I watched the city completely relamp the traffic signals in the intersection next to where I was eating lunch . They replaced a total of 24 lamp in the signals. 2 days later the signals were converted to LED and all 24 NEW lamps went to the landfill !!!

  Hard to swallow the stuff I'm reading in this thread! Frightening frivolity.. this planet is doomed I tell ya, DOOMED!

Hard to swallow the stuff I'm reading in this thread! Frightening frivolity.. this planet is doomed I tell ya, DOOMED!

This planet has been doomed ever since humans came to prominence.  I'm ashamed to be one, to be honest 

Cheerful, aren't I     Sorry, it's been a stressful 18 months for me since all this Covid business, I just want my life back 

“I know you've grown accustomed to the new ways, the authenticity and the relationship with nature, but it's a lie. We live a in a cold mechanistic technocracy. We have to make that work." -Dilbert 

The people doing it don't worry about it as they don't have to pay for it !

Update: SCE has replaced even more fixtures, now they’re apparently doing this city-wide, even final-generation GE M-400s aren’t exempt from the Cooper OVH takeover.

Update: SCE has replaced even more fixtures, now they’re apparently doing this city-wide, even final-generation GE M-400s aren’t exempt from the Cooper OVH takeover.

This is insane! They’re going to be scrapped in literally a couple months.

Utilities need to limit the number of fixture types they are maitaining, to keep the cost of spare part stockpiling reasonable. The fixtures may be let to do their job to some extend, but as they get older and many approavhing their end of life, at one point it just becomes cheaper to group replace the whole street, even when few fixtures are actually still fresh (mean installed recently as NOS). The thing is, there is usually no accurate documentation about the age of each individual lantern, assessing each fixture separately would be pretty labor intensive so expensive, so when most are EOL, it just becomes way cheaper to take all down and replace with brand new ones.
This gas been happening all the times, mostly without any noticing (as it mostly meant the same principal technology). Just now it happens to mean switchover from HID to (hated here) LEDs...

Just a quick update, things have really gotten way out of hand. Hundreds of more fixtures, M-400s, M-250R2s, Series 25s, OV-15 Tudors, and others got replaced by those dumb Cooper OVHs in the past week! It’s almost like they’re putting in a new lighting system citywide. I’ve been concerned about the LED upgrades, but now it’s something else. It’s only a matter of time before they get trashed then replaced by LEDs.