The city government of Baguio is eyeing to adopt the smart system in the management of its streetlights.
In his recent press briefing, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the plan has been integrated in the terms of reference recently crafted for the project and part of plans that will be covered under the P200-million approved budget for the smart city system.
The mayor said the smart lighting will cover the entire city and is planned for implementation next year.
He said the beauty of the plan is that streetlight management will be subjected to the control of artificial intelligence, where in appropriate light levels could be used in particular areas, allowing savings and efficient use of energy.
“This means the ambient light humihina and (depending on the requirement), ang ilaw pwedeng unti-unting lumalakas, hindi bigla at steady. For example, we would be able to control through the system ang lighting sa lugar na hindi naman kailangan na malakas na malakas ang ilaw. It’s the beauty of having a smart city platform,” Magalong said.
Ambient lighting is one of the types of lighting that works to provide a comfortable level of illumination without too much glare.
The implementation of the new lighting system is currently under close study. Once finalized, the mayor said it will be open to interested parties and will go through the bidding process.
He said the city is also reviewing the possibility of having Benguet Electric Cooperative handle the management of the city’s streetlights. “Tinitingnan nating mabuti kung pwede pa ring Beneco kasi maganda naman ang serbisyo nito, and Beneco is willing to adopt the smart lighting system.”
The Beneco board earlier turned over the management and operation of the city’s streetlights to the city due to losses from handling the task and that 40 percent of its transactions and manpower were devoted to streetlight concerns.
The city council then passed a resolution requesting Beneco to reconsider and continue maintaining the city’s streetlights. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
