Public lighting: the municipalities of the agglomeration of Agen have (almost) all flipped the switch

We are not talking about a delay when turning on but rather when turning off. Announced for 1 January, as part of an energy saving strategy, the shutdown of public lighting in the agglomeration of Agen took a little longer than initially planned. Nothing extraordinary given the amount of public lighting in the 44 municipalities of the agglomeration of Agen, which has 19,000 light points. “Everything is in order. It is a gigantic job that the services are doing, ”underlines the president of the agglomeration, Jean Dionis, together with Jean-Marc Gilly, the vice president responsible for this voluminous dossier.
During the press conference, he underlined “the economic and ecological reasons” that prompted the agglomeration to join this dynamic.

“The proposed switch-off must therefore be able to allow energy savings of more than 50%, or more than 4.1 million kWh”, recalls President Dionis “that is the average electricity consumption of over 3,700 people). Nonetheless, due to the inflationary environment and the surge in energy prices, the electricity bill in the agglomeration of Agen is expected to be higher for the year 2023. “About an increase of more than 330,000 euros”, continues Jean Dionis.

Work to do

Of the 19,000 light points, of which 2,450 are compliant with the law, and almost 760 electrical panels. Last year, the operating bill was around 2.17 million euros, of which 750,000 for maintenance. The rest in the electricity bill. In order to realize this sobriety plan, some work had to be done, in particular on the electrical panels. “Those who didn’t have an astronomical clock had to install one, but the cost is 350 euros each,” Jean-Marc Gilly points out. Out of the whole agglomeration, there are “300 wardrobes that needed to be equipped”.

An investment of 15M€

The agglomeration has embarked on a monstrous plan to renovate these bright spots. “15 million euros have already been put on the table”, evokes the vice president in charge of the dossier “we will have to put the same amount during the next mandate”. Several actions will be implemented in this plan, in particular “the transition of the old LED lamps and the installation of photovoltaic lighting poles”.

Finally, in the agglomeration of Agen, this public lighting shutdown plan is divided into several stages. Some exceptions have been granted (read our article below) in particular for sectors with video surveillance cameras not equipped with infrared.

What are the lighting hours in your municipality?

Since Wednesday evening the city of Agen has flipped the switch to reduce public lighting. The common point by municipality in the agglomeration of Agen.

“Everything is ready to finish turning off all the light.” It is in these terms that Jean-Marc Gilly, vice-president of the agglomeration of Agen in charge of roads, cycle paths and public lighting, announced that all the municipalities of the agglomeration of ‘Agen will now turn off their lights at night.

Furthermore, at the beginning of the week, just over half of the municipalities in the agglomeration “had already pressed the button”. However, depending on the municipality, this can vary.

Municipalities where everything is off from 11pm to 6am

The vast majority of municipalities participate in this general effort to reduce public lighting.
In Astaffort, Bajamont, Beauville, Blaymont, Brax, Castelculier, Cauzac, Cuq, Dondas, Engayrac, Fals, Lafox, La Sauvetat-de-Saveres, Marmont-Pachas, Puymirol, Saint-Caprais de Lerm, Sainte-Colombe en Bruilhois, Saint-Jean-de-Thurac, Saint-Martin de Beauville, Saint-Nicolas de la Balerme, Saint-Pierre de Caubel, Saint-Sixte, Saint-Urcisse, Sauvagnas, Sauveterre Saint-Denis and Tayrac, the lighting is interrupted From 11pm to 6am, just like in Saint-Romain le Noble.

The communes of Brax, Layrac, Roquefort, Saint-Hilaire de Lusignan will also turn off their street lamps in this band but from March 31st.

Municipalities with some exceptions

In Aubiac, the lighting is cut off from 11pm to 6am with the exception of departmental roads with a time slot from 2am to 6am. In Estillac, the city led by Jean-Marc Gilly has already flipped the switch. 11pm to 6am except the Monky neighborhood where it will be off from 2am to 6am. The light will be maintained in the center of the country thanks to the presence of cameras. In Foulayronnes extinction is already underway except in some neighborhoods, also due to the presence of cameras. In Laplume, the city will also be plunged into darkness during the same time slot except for exceptions regarding the summer holidays and some Thursday evenings from May to October.

Extinction is underway at the Passage. However, the RD 656 (between the stone bridge and the crescent) will remain lit, as will the Place de la République (at the foot of the footbridge). In Sérignac-sur-Garonne, the city will be dark from 11pm to 6am with the exception of the restaurant area, the place de l’église or the Prince Noir, where the cut will be on the slice from 2am to 6:00. Finally, the municipality of Saint-Maurin has chosen the time slot from 1am to 6am to switch off the public lighting.

Work to do

For other communes, the extinction will take place on March 31, such as Boé, Bon-Encontre or Colayrac (which will be dark from 11pm to 6am except Avenue de la Liberation). Pont-du-Casse will also be closed from 11pm to 6am. Including for departmental roads and business parks. It remains to decide the sectors where the 14 cameras not equipped with infrared are positioned.