The bright lights of Wilder Fields glow over evening practices, a scene that will soon cost the City of Orinda about 50% less to power – thanks to a $320,000 LED upgrade set for installation this spring.
Coming out of the Caldecott Tunnel and heading to Orinda, the bright lights on Wilder Fields illuminate both the young athletes working on their skills and the nearby hills – and the lights are on almost every night.
But thanks to an upcoming project by the City of Orinda, those lights are going to cost about half as much to turn on in the future.
The $320,000 project will replace the existing metal halide lights with LED bulbs and supporting hardware, and will cut the cost of lighting the fields from $85,000 annually to $42,500. And, as Director of Public Works Scott Christie pointed out, “We know electricity costs are going to go up.”
The $320,000 has been collected over the years from groups who have rented the field – a surcharge on the rental cost – and as those fees accumulated, the city had estimated that 2025 would be the year the Capital Improvement Plan for new lights could be implemented.
The timing worked out as expected, so that with no cost to the city, the new LED lights will be installed sometime this spring and start shaving expenses off the Parks and Recreation Department budget.
Musco Sports Lighting, which installed the lights originally, will do the upgrade once all the contracts are approved and signed, and it should have minimal impact on use of the fields.
“It’s a pretty quick install,” said Christie. “It’s two or three days and will be done during the day so it shouldn’t have much impact on the groups renting the fields.”
