Northampton is under pressure to choose new lighting fixtures quickly in order to satisfy the requirements of National Grid, a giant multinational utility company headquartered in the United Kingdom. According to the Gazette, our little city needs to accept new lights that some see as overly bright because spending the time to make a better choice may mean losing the large rebates the big utility company offers.
National Grid is offering rebates of approximately $190,000. That is a lot of money. But it’s hard to believe there isn’t a way to get the rebates as well as the best fixtures available. Where my friend Bill Dwight sees “paralysis” I see opportunity.
Instead of folding, how about sitting down with National Grid and asking for more time to make the decision? This would allow the city to continue to assess the various options and to incorporate the suggestions of James Lowenthal, a local resident who has researched street lighting extensively.
There are other benefits to holding off on making a decision. The city is in the midst of studying new streetscape designs for both Pleasant and Main streets. How will the new design proposals affect the choice of lighting for those streets?
Also, lighting technology is rapidly changing. Over time, lighting fixtures will continue to improve. And the prices will most likely drop.
An article by Adam Grant in the New York Times suggests our first ideas are usually the most conventional. Waiting leads to more creative results. Grant says Frank Lloyd Wright spent almost a year procrastinating on a commission, “to the point that his patron drove out and insisted that he produce a drawing on the spot. It became Fallingwater, his masterpiece.”
Michael DiPasquale
Northampton