Controversial measure comes into force: street lighting in the Bavarian district town is switched off at night

Created: 04/12/2022 05:04

By: Felix Herz

From Saturday, a controversial energy-saving measure will come into effect in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz: street lighting will be switched off at night.

Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz – It's December and winter is in full swing.

This is also reflected in the weather, there is talk of “heavy snowfall”.

The energy crisis is also making itself felt – people have to heat more, prices are high, gas storage is empty.

In anticipation of this unpleasant situation, the district town of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, near Regensburg, decided in late summer to switch off the street lighting between midnight and 5 a.m. on December 3rd.

A controversial measure that has now been diligently discussed again in the city council.

Energy crisis: City in Bavaria switches off street lighting

In a press release from the city administration on Thursday, December 1st, it was announced that a measure to save energy that had been announced at the end of September would be implemented in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz from December 3rd.

It is about the "switching off of street lighting in the night hours between midnight and 5 a.m.," it says.

On the streets of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz it will be dark at night from December 3rd - the street lighting will be switched off.

(icon image) © ZUMA Wire / IMAGO

The purpose behind this is to save energy.

The street lighting requires around 1,700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, and by switching it off, the public utility company promises “a saving of 40 percent”.

The step, although announced for months, now caused heated discussions at the city council meeting.

(By the way: Our brand new Regensburg newsletter will keep you regularly informed about all the important stories from the World Heritage city and the Upper Palatinate. Register here.)

Discussion about street lighting in the city council - it's also about safety

The discussion during the city council meeting focused primarily on the usefulness of the measure.

According to

, CSU city councilor Peter Ehrensberger wanted to know whether the relationship between the cost savings from the shutdown and the costs incurred for the implementation was correct.

Municipal utilities and administration had no answer to that.

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However, they emphasized that it is not about cost savings at all - but about saving energy, which would ultimately also lower energy prices in general.

Other councilors pointed to the safety aspect, which would suffer without street lighting.

Criticism was also voiced that more modern technology, which would have made the current problem superfluous, was not taken care of earlier.

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