TURNING off and dimming street lights saved taxpayers in Monmouthshire £180,000 last year.

Now Monmouthshire County Council (MCC)’s contractors are taking steps to reduce the number of street lights presently illuminated during the day. 

Recently-installed LED lights are particularly affected but the problem centres mainly on the remote control wireless technology used to regulate the switching on and off and dimming of street lighting. The LED lights are being introduced gradually across the county to reduce energy consumption.

MCC street lighting team presently manages 10,695 street lights plus traffic lights and VAS signs, 7,026 of which are on the remote monitoring system. 1,751 LED lanterns have been installed so far, all of which are controlled on the monitoring system.

The company providing the remote control technology has uncovered a batch of faulty control systems in addition to a number of communication issues which contribute towards lights being illuminated during the day.

Figures on MCC’s website state that it currently takes 4,230,323kWh of energy a year to power Monmouthshire’s street lights, costing householders £420,000 a year in energy costs and resulting in 2,369 tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

LED lamps use considerably less energy than older style lanterns and the council is not incurring extra energy costs due to lights being illuminated during the day because of how street lighting energy is presently charged. However, this does not mean that the council can ignore day-burning lamps and officers are anxious to resolve problems.

Roger Hoggins added: “It is worth noting that the introduction of LEDs makes sense, especially as the cost of the technology continues to drop as the market grows. We have taken interest-free loans to pay for the new lamps using the reduction in energy costs to fund the borrowing.”

Further information is available on the council’s website at www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/street-lighting