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Daniel Chollet
Published on
Nov. 25 2024 at 8:16 p.m
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In June 2022, while the electricity bill was exploding, the Val Parisis conurbation community, in Val-d'Oise, decided to turn off the lighting between 1:15 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. in 14 out of 15 towns ((except Ermont ) of its territory.
By June 2022, energy prices had exploded
As prices have become more reasonable again and the switch to LED is also less energy consuming, the city turns the lights back on.
The power of the lighting nevertheless remains reduced by 60% between 10 p.m. and midnight and by 80% from midnight to 6 a.m. in order to respect nocturnal biodiversity.
No increase in delinquency figures
Announced in June 2022, the switching off of the lighting caused some community elected officials and residents to react. But according to official statistics, there would have been no increase in delinquency linked to this.
“The figures are even rather decreasing,” explains the president of the urban community, Yannick Boëdec, mayor (Dvd) of Cormeilles-en-Parisis and vice-president of the departmental council.
“I'm not going to say it's related to the lights going out either. The lights had already been turned off in the provinces and it had changed nothing. Afterwards, I can understand that it is not reassuring to walk in an unlit street.”
Launched for essentially budgetary reasons
Launched for essentially budgetary reasons, while energy prices had exploded a few months after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the extinction of public lighting will end completely in December 2025. “At the time, the Electricity prices had exploded, an increase of 1.5 million euros per year. Turning off at night allowed us to save €600,000 per year, taking into account 2022 prices, which have since fallen,” continues Yannick Boëdec.
The LED bulb saves more than 70%
The gradual deployment of lighting with LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamps in Val Parisis now allows savings of more than 70% on the lighting bill. It is in Sannois, rue Félix-et-Roger-Pozzi, that the elected officials of the Val Parisis agglomeration launched the program in June 2023. A deployment which will end in December 2025.
Sannois having started the program, it was also this city which turned the lights back on first, with Herblay-sur-Seine, last summer. Franconville turned the lights back on “two weeks ago”, explains Yannick Boëdec.
Taverny will light up again “at the end of the year” and Cormeilles-en-Parisis “at the end of January 2025”.
Then it will be the turn of the other towns of the agglomeration throughout next year: Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Montigny-lès-Cormeilles, Eaubonne, La Frette-sur-Seine, Pierrelaye, Bessancourt, Beauchamp, Frépillon (not necessarily in that order)…
At the end of this deployment, the entire Val Parisis conurbation will have put an end to the system aimed at turning off lighting between 1:15 a.m. and 4:45 a.m.
Respect for nocturnal animals
The intensity of light in the first municipalities concerned – the inhabitants will have noticed this – has changed somewhat. The power of lighting is reduced by 60% between 10 p.m. and midnight and by 80% between midnight and 6 a.m., in order to reduce the impact of the light park on nocturnal biodiversity.
33,000 light points
In the end, the operation concerns more than 33,000 light points. This represents an investment of €20 million for a saving on the bill of €1.5 million/year. The LED has an “almost unlimited” lifespan, explained Olivier Blond, vice-president of the Region, special delegate for the fight against air pollution and environmental health, during the launch of the system in Sannois.
“LED consumes so little that it is almost never replaced. We hardly sell any bulbs anymore. We will be able to light better and save money. It is ecology (…) which does not require sacrifices or tightening one’s belt. The ecological transition does not involve degrowth but through investments.”
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