Lighting costs set to soar to £9k a year for Bedfordshire parish council
The increased amount is due from September
Parish councillors in Tingrith are set to blow a fuse after it emerged the four LED street lights in the village are about to cost £9,000 a year, instead of the annual £200 cost until now.
The increased amount is due from September and would mean a rise in the average yearly household council tax bill of £92.
In an email to residents, the parish council explained: “We need to decide whether to turn the lights off and ‘go dark’, install other lights or pay this amount.
“There are four parish-owned street lights, which are located at Manor Farm, by the village post box, in Church Road and along the High Street footpath towards Long Lane.
“Lights in St Nicholas Close are owned and paid for by Central Bedfordshire Council, which refused to adopt the parish-owned lighting when asked last year.
“The supply has been unmetered until now. The cost has been based on the units used between dusk and dawn. This is easy to calculate as these daily times are known and there’s a certificate showing how many watts each street light uses per hour.
“We’ve a three-year fixed price contract ending in September at rates of 17.852 pence standing charge per day, and 27.297 pence per unit. In 2024, we paid £175 in total.
“The government regulator Ofgem decreed that all unmetered supplies must be switched to half-hourly metered provision by last October, with a move towards smart metering by 2027.
“From September, energy supplier SSE plc is quoting us £24 a day standing charge, plus 33p per unit. That means £8,760 in standing charges alone, even more than the company originally quoted last year.
“It’s probable that electricity firms are trying to shed micro customers such as us,” warned the parish council. “There are 95 households in Tingrith, not all of which are in the main village.
“The £8,760 charge means an extra £92 a year per household on average on your council tax. Exact figures depend on your council tax band.”
On the prospect of keeping the lights turned off, the local authority acknowledged: “Steppingley is already dark.”
This option might not be influential for home insurance, but it could be worth asking your insurer if changes to lighting would impact your vehicle insurance, it said.
“Research using data from across 62 councils found no association between reduced or removed lighting and nighttime collisions. The last accident in the village at night was when a car ploughed into the Manor Farm barn on the bend next to the street light.
“The Church Road and High Street junction is probably the most dangerous part of the village. Visibility there in daytime is difficult, but it can be easier to see approaching headlights in the dark.
“A light could be up on the Manor Farm barn to replace the street light there, while there’s floodlighting on the church. Other alternatives include solar powered street lights.
“Costs vary (around £1,000 per light) and not all the columns can take the weight of the panel, battery and controller. The solar panel must face south and not be obstructed by any trees or vegetation,” added the parish council.
“Our lighting maintenance contractor has had mixed success converting lights to solar for parish councils, saying the technology isn’t quite there yet. Positioning is key and it’s expensive to install.”