Norton Rose Fulbright advises ENGIE North America Inc. and EQUANS in US$309M DC Smart Street Lighting Project

A multi-disciplinary team of lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright advised ENGIE North America Inc. (ENGIE) and its affiliate  EQUANS on the DC Smart Street Lighting Project, a US$309m plan to modernize more than 75,000 streetlights throughout the District of Columbia, replace inefficient bulb technologies and incorporate other smart city infrastructure technologies.

The District of Columbia entered into a long-term public private partnership with the Plenary Infrastructure DC (PIDC) group to convert all of the city’s street and alley lights to energy-efficient LED technology with remote monitoring and control capabilities. The PIDC includes Plenary Americas as the lead developer and equity partner, Kiewit Development Company as an equity partner, Phoenix Infrastructure Group as a DC-based and minority-owned equity partner, ENGIE as the design and construction contractor and EQUANS as the asset manager of the infrastructure for the next 15 years.

Considered the nation’s largest urban streetlight modernization effort, the project will reduce the lights’ energy usage by more than 50 percent, eliminating 38,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year and will also extend Wi-Fi coverage in traditionally underserved neighborhoods. In addition, the project will substantially reduce light pollution and, by reducing outages, support the city’s Vision Zero campaign, which is designed to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety. 

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Douglas Buchanan and included Raquel Bierzwinsky, Jake Falk, Grace Choi, Daniel Prati, Rhodri Evans and Luke Maher.