Adopt-A-Watt Lights Up Efficient Fixtures, EV Charging In Dearborn

The Royal Oak-based National Adopt-A-Watt program celebrated another success Monday as the city of Dearborn threw the switch on privately sponsored energy-efficient lighting and an electric vehicle charging station in a municipal garage.

Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly threw the ceremonial switch at the garage just south of Michigan Avenue near Military Street on the city's west side.

A couple of dozen Adopt-A-Watt sponsors paid for the induction lighting fixtures, which cost about $500 each, vs. $200 for a mercury vapor lamp -- but which use 60 percent less electricity than mercury vapor and last six times as long. Sponsors get a small plaque next to the lighting fixtures that their contributions paid for.

Adopt-A-Watt sponsor Eaton Corp. also paid for a 220-volt electric vehicle charging station at the garage.

O'Reilly said the energy-efficient garages are just a part of the city's overall sustainability efforts, which also include LED traffic and street lights, cleaner diesel trucks, and exploration of waste-to-energy projects.

"This is just part of what I hope will be a global effort to preserve our limited resources for generations to come," O'Reilly told a crowd of about 50 people gathered at the garage.

Besides major sponsor DTE Energy, silver sponsors in the new garage included the Auto Tech Clinic, Central Michigan University, Critical Care Medicine Partners, Henry Ford Health System, Nickel & Saph Insurance, Oakwood Healthcare, Roma Bakery and Severstal North America.

Bronze sponsors included ACCESS, BDT LightSource, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Byblos Banquets Center, Co-Op Services Credit Union, Dearborn Steel Center, Dearborn Sustainability Coalition, Dearborn Surgery Center, DoubleTree Hotel, Epplinger Manufacturing, Going Green Foundation, Grimwade-Norwood, Highlight Associates Insurance, Illusion Signs and Graphics, Jan Overhead Door, LaFontaine Import Center, LaPita Restaurant, Leon's Family Dining, Morse Moving and Storage, and St. Paul Lutheran Church.

Adopt-A-Watt has other installation projects under way in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

More at www.adopt-a-watt.com.