Warren will soon switch its street lights over to energy-saving LEDs, a move that is expected to save thousands in yearly electric and maintenance costs.

The Warren Town Council has been exploring and planning the change-over for two years, aided by a change in state law that requires National Grid to sell lighting infrastructure to municipalities that want to take control of their lighting costs and maintenance. The town’s lights will be serviced by PRISM, a management and maintenance non-profit that has helped other municipalities, including Barrington, switch over to and maintain LED lighting systems.

The acquisition of poles and fixtures is expected to cost $7,677, and it will cost $457,763 to convert all the lights over to LED. Warren Town Manager Jan Reitsma said that while there will be an initial outlay of funds, those will be offset by savings that Mr. Reitsma said overall savings could be as much as $133,702 per year. Funds will come from accounts that pay for the town’s electricity needs.

“The bottom line is that this will be net revenue positive,”Mr. Reitsma said. “Hugely less than what we are paying now.”

Apart from cheaper costs, the new LEDs are more flexibility and will come with control systems that allow PRISM and town officials to adjust individual lights’ intensity and hours of use independently.

“The neat thing about this is you have a lighting system with a lot of different possibilities,” he said. “You can dim and in crewe it and you can do that in a fairly localized manner. The lighting can be at one level in a quiet neighborhood and brighter along a busier street.”

State roads, including routes 103, 114 and 136, are not part of the agreement. Mr. Reitsma said the changeover will likely take place later this year.