District of Columbia, Plenary Infrastructure DC consortium partner to modernize 75,000 streetlights

The nation’s capital could soon shine brighter, thanks to a long-term public-private partnership established between the District of Columbia and a group collectively known as the Plenary Infrastructure DC (PIDC) consortium focused on modernizing more than 75,000 lights throughout the District.

If successful, this project would be the largest urban streetlight modernization project in the United States, amounting to $309 million worth of efforts to convert the city’s street and alley lights to LEDs. The new bulbs would not only be more energy-efficient than their older counterparts, such as incandescent and high-pressure sodium but offer remote monitoring and control capabilities. All told, they would reduce energy usage by more than 50 percent over current levels, eliminate 38,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and extend Wi-Fi coverage at the same time.

“With this project, we’re doing so much more than just replacing lights – we’re making our streets safer, our communities more connected, and our city more resilient,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “I’m proud that with the District’s first public-private partnership, years in the making and partly financed through the D.C. Revenue Bond program, we’re building a stronger, brighter D.C.”

The government side of the arrangement is represented by Washington, D.C.’s District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Office of Public-Private Partnerships (OP3). On the private side, PIDC consists of several partners, each bringing different specialties to the endeavor: 

• Plenary Americas as lead developer and equity partner
• Kiewit Development Company as equity partner
• Phoenix Infrastructure Group as DC-based and minority-owned equity partner
• ENGIE North America (ENGIE) as design and construction contractor
• EQUANS, an ENGIE company, as infrastructure asset manager for 15 years

In addition to the more efficient lightbulbs, these partners will also add smart city technology components to the new streetlights, including remote monitoring to improve outage response, a control system, and wireless access points. In turn, this will help spread the city’s broadband access to traditionally underserved areas of the community.

PIDC will work with local small businesses to achieve all this, tapping and training a local workforce. Local subcontractors will handle both conversion and operations work. 

“On behalf of the Plenary Infrastructure DC team, we are honored to be partnering with the District on their first public-private partnership and the first urban P3 DBFM street-lighting project in North America. We look forward to working alongside the District over the next 15 years to provide smart, reliable, energy-efficient streetlights for the communities of Washington, D.C.,” said Brian Budden, president & CEO of Plenary Americas.

Stefaan Sercu, managing director at ENGIE North America, said, “The collaborative partnership with the District and PIDC delivers critical infrastructure while allowing to shape a more sustainable future. Working together we can help ensure the next generation enjoys the benefits of the city in an environment that’s clean and healthy.”

“The DC Smart Street Lighting Project expands the ENGIE footprint within the District along with customers like Howard University and Georgetown University,” Sercu added.