• Creating an action group
• Distributor contacts
• Regional SPLAP Template
• Case studies in collaboration
• Building A National Network
• Action checklist

Regional, state and national collaboration can enable councils to:

• present a coordinated front to distribution businesses, regulators, lighting suppliers and the community
• increase their collective influence in demanding energy efficient technologies and solutions
• increase their purchasing power and access economies of scale and standardisation
• share information, skills and networks
• save time and reduce costs, particularly staff costs
• expand the reach of sustainable public lighting projects, eg more extensive community engagement.

Regional action groups should be organised by distribution business or jurisdiction (state or territory), and should include both public lighting and environment staff. It may be an extension of an existing public lighting or greenhouse network, or a new group - there are pro's and con's for each approach. It is important to establish the group and what you plan to do before approaching external stakeholders such as distribution businesses, regulators, state/national energy agencies, and suppliers.

Most of the tools presented in other sections of Taking Action can be scaled up for regional application. With Internal Management, it is still worth sharing experiences and possible templates.

To find the contact details of your distribution business, see the stakeholder section of your state or territory page.

Many sustainable public lighting strategies and actions benefit from regional collaboration. A Regional Action Plan provides a framework for clarifying common goals and responsibilities, organising your region's strategies and actions, and ensuring high-level support for implementation.

Your regional working group can use the Regional SPLAP Template in one of two ways:

1. Identify from your existing knowledge commonalities and opportunities for regional collaboration, and use this as the basis of a Regional Action Plan or informal plan of action.
2. Pulling together common actions from individual Action Plans into a Regional Action Plan, filling in any gaps as needed.

The case studies below illustrate what can be achieved by working together. As you will see, a major focus of collaboration has been engaging distribution businesses. While it is often more effective to engage distribution businesses via a regional or state organisation (see the Victorian and Queensland case studies below), individual councils may also establish effective relationships with their distribution businesses on their own (see the examples of Coffs Harbour and Salisbury City Councils). 

Energy Efficiency Public Lighting Working Group, SE Queensland, 2007
Distributors can be partners rather than barriers in efforts to achieve sustainable public lighting. A recent example of this comes from Queensland, where Energex, a key distribution business in SE Queensland, worked in partnership with the Queensland State Government and a number of local councils to initiate a large-scale trial of energy efficiency public lighting technologies. For more information, see Queensland.

Stakeholder Action Group, Victoria, 2007
The Victorian Sustainable Public Lighting Action Group (VSPLAG) formed in mid-2006 to facilitate the installation of energy efficient streetlighting. VSPLAG brings together the five Victorian Regional Alliances, their member councils, Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), Sustainability Victoria, Essential Services Commission and the electricity distribution businesses. For more information, see the state information page for Victoria.

Energy Efficient Service Agreement, Coffs Harbour City Council and Country Energy, New South Wales
A partnership was negotiated between council, the local distribution network service provider, Country Energy, and the former Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) to establish a new maintenance charter and service agreement that will allow more energy efficient public lighting upgrades.

For more information about Coffs Harbour's public lighting initiatives, see New South Wales or contact Jeff Green, Coffs Harbour City Council, Ph: +61 (0)2 6648 4670, or Remko Verschuur, Streetlighting Coordinator, Country Energy, Ph: +61 (0)2 6589 8688.

Increasing Demand for Energy Efficient LEDs, New York, United States
The project on Increasing New York State Market Awareness and Demand for Energy-Efficient Light-Emitting Diode Traffic Signals was designed to develop market demand for single-color, light-emitting diode (LED) retrofits and for the new, fully- integrated, three-color signal products.

The project was initiated in February 2000. Results from case studies and a demonstration project are currently available on NYSERDA’s web site. Several municipalities have benefitted from this project, including Onondaga County and Westchester County. These counties both installed LED signals. Together, they should save nearly $30,000 on annual energy costs.

Bulk procurement for LEDs and adaptive lighting, Toronto, Canada
The annual Dan Leckie Forum, which took place in October 2008, focused entirely on LED and adaptive lighting technology for outdoor applications. A group of lighting purchasers from across greater Toronto are joining together to trial LED lighting in 10 sites which aims to facilitate procurement of LEDs and adaptive lighting and accelerate its deployment. A one page fact sheet provides the rationale for the Toronto project.

1. Develop symbiotic public lighting policies and goals; consider a regional SPL action planShare public lighting staff across the region to maximise knowledge and minimise resourcing issues
2. Share information and resources, for example establish a regional panel of street lighting consultants, a national/state network of experts, and/or a technical consulting/research service for smaller councils
3. Choose the same type of alternative lighting as neighbouring councils to increase the economy of scale for your distribution business
4. Work with retailers and any brokering bodies to group/bulk purchase GreenPower for public lighting
5. Meet with lighting suppliers and tell them about council’s goals and seek solutions – remember you are a big customer
6. Engage external stakeholders (distribution business, regulator and energy authority) through your regional group and/or your LGA, with a view to creating positive relationships and identifying opportunities for each organisation. Consider establishing an MoU or terms of reference
7. Negotiate a timeline and orderly process with your distribution business for changeovers to efficient lighting, incorporating SPL provisions in SLUoS or SLA and other needs
8. Advocate and contribute to state/national public lighting policy, regulations and codes.