'No business case' for overnight Christmas light switch-off

The cost of switching off a local Council's Christmas lights overnight in an attempt to save on energy costs would actually prove more expensive, a Council committee has been told.

A discussion on the issue was sparked by Causeway Coast and Glens Mayor Cllr Ivor Wallace's notice of motion at Tuesday night's Environmental Services Committee.

Cllr Wallace had suggested that the Council's Christmas lights could be extinguished at 11.00pm every evening 'as an energy saving measure'.

However, a Council official said the infrastructure around how the lighting was set up meant the measure would actually cost more money than it would save in electricity.

“The difficulty is in relation to the infrastructure because the Christmas lights and motifs are connected directly to the street lighting columns,” they said.

“They are based on the timings of the streetlights which are working off a photocell; it comes on when it gets dark and goes off when it's light again.

“There is a possibility that the infrastructure could be put in place but it would require standalone wiring, many pillars, electric supply and a timer.

“It is possible, but certainly not for this winter and we have been in consultation with DfI for looking at these proposals.”

A second official then told the committee that turning the lights off at midnight would save the Council £6,000 over ten weeks, but that the issue was the infrastructure.

“We have about 480 street columns that are used for festive lighting,” they said.

“For us to get them to go off at a set time – 11 o'clock or midnight – we would need each individual lamp post to have a timer attached.

The initial proposal came from Mayor Cllr Ivor Wallace.

“The timers would only be fitted by Roads Service, so we would be at their mercy in terms of when the work could be done and what it would cost.

“I've done a rough exercise; if we turn the lights off at midnight, that eight hours would save us roughly 19p per column per night.

“Worked out over 480 columns operating for approximately ten weeks, we would save about £6,000 in electricity costs.

“Our electricity bill last year was £19,000. We anticipate this year is going to be in the region of £25,000.

“We might save £6,000, but the infrastructure that we would need to put in to save that money I estimate could be in the region of £40,000 just to save £6,000.

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A local councillor said the behaviour was 'nothing short of a disgrace'.

“It just doesn't add up; the business case isn't there. You're almost better to let the lights stay on rather than spend that sort of money to save a few pence.”

Cllr Wallace then mentioned the extra lights provided by Council and asked if they could be considered as part of any switch-off.

The official said that was technically possible, but that it may raise other issues for councillors.

“Over the last number of years we've been installing infrastructure to control our own lights,” they said.

“We have been trying to get away from using lights on businesses on main streets; that has reduced over the years.

“We can control those and turn those off. The issue is that we could have half the lights off and half on, which might raise other questions.”

Cllr McQuillan

Bann councillor Adrian McQuillan said Council should use any options open to them to reduce the energy usage, and suggested they look further into the future.

“In this era of climate change and saving costs and all the rest of it, what the Mayor was proposing there makes a bit of sense,” he said.

“Even if half were on and half off, if we were controlling what we are in control of, then we're doing our bit for the climate change, the economy and the rate-payer.

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A Council committee heard an update on the position on Tuesday.

“I think we should be doing what we can do. Six grand is six grand. Even it did cost £40,000 to set the infrastructure up, over five or six years we'd have that back and be into profit.

“You spend the money to save in the future,” added the DUP representative.

Officials said they would bring a paper back in preparation for next year's festive planning.