The City of Renton on Thursday received a $500,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce designed to create jobs and lower energy costs.

The grant, one of 49 handed out, comes as part of the state’s Energy Efficiency Grant program and will be used in Renton to convert all city-owner street lamps to LED lights.

Presently, the city uses high pressure sodium lamps.

According to city spokesperson Preeti Shridhar, the conversion will help save the city some money.

“This project will save a great deal of money over time because of the lower power consumption of LED street lights,” she said in an email, “and we will save on maintenance costs as well since LED lights last much longer than high pressure sodium lights.”

This is the second round of grants awarded by the governor. The 2012 Legislature appropriated $20 million to higher education and $18 million to local governments, including a specific set aside of at least 10 percent for small cities or towns (populations of 5,000 or less). The first recipients were announced in August 2012.

In total, Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announced $18 million in grant funding for 12 higher learning institutions and 37 local governments. An estimated total of 543 jobs will be created through the grants.

“This is precisely the sort of program we need as we work to rebuild our economy,” Inslee said in a press release. “These grants will reduce energy costs, provide training opportunities to students and create jobs in the clean energy sector.”