Cree, Inc. announced that Indian Wells, California, has joined the LED City initiative, an international program that promotes the deployment of energy-efficient LED lighting.

The city has converted much of the lighting in City Hall, the Emergency Operations Center and the Public Works Maintenance Facility to LED lighting. Indian Wells is home to several world-class resorts and is internationally recognized for hosting high-profile golf and tennis events.

"It is initiatives like these that have made California a world leader in energy efficiency," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I applaud the City of Indian Wells and the University of California, Davis for promoting the kinds of energy-efficiency measures that California needs to meet our aggressive goal of 33-percent renewable energy by 2020."

All circular recessed lighting in the buildings was converted to the Cree LR6 LED light, reducing electricity consumption by 80 percent. The City of Indian Wells plans to evaluate LED lighting for other municipal lighting applications to further increase its energy savings.

"The City of Indian Wells takes being green seriously," said Mayor Larry Spicer. "We are known worldwide for our extraordinary landscape and pristine environment, and we make stewardship of these resources a top priority. The recessed LED lighting we have installed throughout our municipal buildings cuts our energy consumption for those lights by 80 percent and is targeted to last for 12 to 25 years, significantly reducing the time and money we spend changing and tossing away bulbs."

"We collaborated with Southern California Edison for these initial LED lighting installations," noted Greg Johnson, Indian Wells city manager. "They gave us a directive to save energy. We conducted an initial evaluation of many different efficient lighting solutions, and the Cree LR6 LED recessed light was far superior to the others."

About LED City

The LED City is an expanding community of government and industry parties working to evaluate, deploy and promote LED lighting technology across the full range of municipal infrastructure to:

  -- Save energy
  -- Protect the environment
  -- Reduce maintenance costs
  -- Provide better light quality for improved visibility and safety.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 22 percent of electricity used in the U.S. powers lighting. In a world with soaring energy prices based on the availability and control of fossil fuels, and with growing concern about sustainability of the environment, a revolution in lighting is long overdue.

About Indian Wells, California

From a humble oasis sprung a fountain of luxury. Long an exclusive playground of movie stars, sports legends and even American presidents, Indian Wells now welcomes the world to its sparkling resorts and premier cultural, golf and tennis events.

What was once a tribal well and wagon stop slowly grew in the 1950s and 1960s into a small, celebrity-studded enclave. Throughout the 1950s, tennis tournaments became annual events, and in 1960, the first Bob Hope Desert Classic was played at Indian Wells Country Club -- forever linking Indian Wells with top-ranked golf.

Today, thousands of visitors come every year to four luxury resorts on championship courses and to events like the LG Skins Game and the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament presented by The City of Indian Wells.