Chandigarh In the agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana, power cuts have been the order of the day for years. This, in turn, has affected economic development in these states. While the two states have decided to spend almost one-third of their five-year Plan for 2007-12 on power projects, they have also realised that the immediate need was to save energy. With that in mind, Punjab has tied up with a US major, Econoler International, to light the streets of municipal areas of the state. In neighbouring Haryana, more than 80% of agricultural and industrial consumers have already switched over to using compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), T-5 tubes and other energy-efficient lighting systems after a mandatory provision by Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN). Punjab Energy Development Authority (PEDA) sources said Leon Biaou, managing director, Econoler International, was here recently to meet state science, technology and environment minister Bikram Singh Majithia. The US firm has already completed self-financing energy-efficient street light projects for Indore and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh and has claimed that this had resulted in an annual power saving of 35% for the state. According to PEDA sources, Biaou is said to have told the minister that the municipal corporations would not have to spend a single penny in upgrading the street light infrastructure. He said energy-saving Companies would bid for every corporation and recover the project cost from the energy saved. A team of Punjab government officials is likely to visit Indore and Ujjain to study the projects. Meanwhile, DHBVN sources said about 10 lakh power-guzzling equipment had already been replaced with energy-efficient equipment by the farmers and industrial consumers. It has mandated to use of energy-efficient bulbs in the districts of Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Mahendargarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Mewat and Faridabad. Sources said replacement of all of traditional yellow bulbs and T-12 tubelights would result in saving of about 60mw. DHBVN officials said they had shifted about 680 villages to cent per cent CFL use. In Haryana use of efficient lighting system is mandatory for all industrial units and commercial complexes having more than 5kw load, sources added.