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The rush to retrofit outdated lighting fixtures is on all over the country and the world as energy becomes increasingly harder to produce and ever more scarce as well. From Albuquerque to Yuma and all of our wonderful cities in between energy solutions are being sought and implemented, especially since the advancement of lighting tech that has produced newer, better lighting alternatives that use much less energy and need less maintenance too. In Lakeport, CA there’s a big push underway to change to the new lighting alternatives and the fine folks at Lake County Energy Watch are at the forefront. They have teamed up with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to retrofit their customer’s older lighting with newer, energy-efficient lighting, specifically commercial customers who use less than 200 kw or less each month in energy. This applies to small business in Lake County as well as nonprofits. City, state and federal facilities are also able to take advantage of the retrofit which is either free or done at a very low cost. This is extremely forward thinking on the part of Lake County and shows that they care about reducing their energy consumption and energy waste. In most cases the retrofit will be for lighting fixtures that are used in and around the small business. For example, a gas station will be able to retrofit their canopy lighting and a hotel their signage. The new lighting will be with Light Emitting Diode (LED) or Energy Star compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) which use up to 25% less energy and have a lifespan of nearly 10 times the older lighting that they will be replacing. One of the first locations to take advantage of the retrofit option was the Lake County Fire Protection District. They replaced their 25 year old lighting with the new energy efficient lighting offered and were very satisfied with the brighter, safer environment that the new lights provided. Other counties all over the United States are following in the footsteps of Lake County as the demand for energy continues to grow. By offering alternatives at a very low cost they will ensure that the new, energy efficient technology is put to into use as soon as possible. In this way energy demands will be lessened as well as the pollution and contamination that energy production causes. By being proactive Lake County is ensuring that her current and future residents will always have cheap energy available and will also have lighting that uses less energy while giving better, safer light.