SOMERSET — The town has decided to smarten up by having more dim bulbs.

The Board of Selectmen has approved a plan to replace the 70-watt bulbs in its 1,700 streetlights with 50-watt fixtures, a move that could save about $36,000 in energy costs in the coming year alone.

In future years, especially if energy prices continue to skyrocket, the savings could be even greater, said Town Administrator Dennis Luttrell.

The move comes at a time when many homes and businesses have made streetlights unnecessary because they leave outdoor lights on all night. Nighttime illumination has become so great it is sometimes regarded as a form of pollution, making it difficult, in many areas, to see most of the stars.

“We’re the first to be doing this, that I know of,” said Luttrell, who hopes the lower-wattage bulbs would be in place within six months to a year. National Grid is donating the labor to install the replacement bulbs.

He said most residents probably won’t notice the difference because the 70-watt bulbs have been throwing off less light with age.

“You may even get a brighter bulb” when the new one is installed, said Selectman Lorne Lawless.

The plan also includes turning off six streetlights along Main Street, which have been kept active even though old-fashioned post lamps were erected years ago.

“You’ve got this nice period lighting plus these big streetlights,” Luttrell said, expressing surprise that the regular street lights were kept on.

Lawless said the street is illuminated “like a runway.”

Two other lights along Main Street will be replaced with floodlights that are directed toward the fire museum and the headquarters of Somerset Access Television.

The changes aren’t going to stop there.

The town will be taking a look at other streets to identify lights that have become unnecessary.

Those lights will be “red capped,” which is National Grid’s term for deactivating them, but not removing them.

Luttrell said Somerset has plenty of red cap candidates.

One of the phone poles in front of Old Town Hall, where Wednesday night’s selectman’s meeting was held, has two street lights, one on either side of the pole.

Luttrell said he counted six lights between that building and the short distance to the town offices.

“There’s a lot of overkill” when it comes to lighting streets, the administrator said.

“We can’t afford to have four, five lights on a pole one after another,” said Selectmen Chairman William Meehan.

Luttrell said the board would have to approve red capping any lights, so that process “is going to take some time.”

Meehan promised that any lights that are turned off will be done selectively, and both the Police and Fire Departments will be consulted.

“There will be no change that involves public safety,” vowed Selectman Eleanor Gagnon, who said the lights are still needed to illuminate signs and curves. “It will just be on the straightaways, so to speak.”

Even if the board approves red capping a light, “Any resident can make a request to National Grid to have that light put back on again. But the homeowner picks up the cost, not the town,” said Luttrell. “For $16 to $20 a month, you can have that light if you want it.”

National Grid charges the town $8 per streetlight per month, plus the cost of electricity to power it.

gemery@projo.com