Cree's lighting is about to get perhaps its biggest test: illuminating streets in the 'Land of the Midnight Sun.'
Valdez, Alaska, has signed on to be part of the Durham's company's LED City program. The city is converting all of its 343 street lights to use LEDs made by Cree.
We're being a little loose using the 'midnight sun' moniker for Valdez. The city, which has a population of 4,353, is in South Central Alaska — on the tip of Prince William Sound — so it sees more daylight than other Alaskan cities. But Cree's light emitting diodes will be tested by the area's freezing temps. Thirty degrees is the normal high this time of year and it has been known to dip to below 6 degrees.
City workers started installing the lights in December and the full conversion should be completed by 2011.
The lights are expected to last 10 times longer than those currently being used. The city, a poster child for the green movement after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, sees LEDs as a cost-efficient alternative, Mayor Bert Cottle said in a statement.
Cree has been rapidly adding communities to its LED City program, which is an initiative to educate municipalities about LED lighting. There are no fees associated with the program; Cree makes money by selling its LEDs to the streetlight manufacturers. So far, the program has hooked several cities in this country, including Raleigh and Chapel Hill, as well as Austin, Texas; Danville, Va.; and Boston, Mass. Global converts include cities in China, South Korea and Italy.
Mary Cornatzer has worked at The News & Observer for more than 25 years, covering the local music industry, state movie industry and travel. She has been the paper's Business editor since 2000. Contact Mary at 919-829-4755 or 
