Published: Less than 30 min ago
Turn off a third of the lights – or risk the electricity supply in the entire municipality.
According to the politicians in Höganäs, they had no other choice but to make the drastic decision.
– This has nothing to do with money really, says municipal board chairman Peter Schölander (M).
Electricity bills shine for everyone – even for municipalities. In Höganäs municipality, energy costs are expected to increase by SEK 20–24 million this year.
Nevertheless, the municipality believes that the shutdown decision, which was taken at the beginning of October, has nothing to do with money.
– It has nothing to do with money. Then it’s a bonus that you save money by using less electricity, that’s great. But it is about the fact that we live in a time with two closed nuclear power plants, we are warned of electricity shortages in southern Sweden and that at certain times we may be forced to turn off the electricity, says municipal board chairman Peter Schölander (M) and continues:
– And it’s much worse than every third street light being off, I can promise. So to avoid that, we have to save electricity, and everyone has to be in solidarity in that. For every kilowatt we can save now, we reduce the risk of a total shutdown on a cold winter’s day.
“Must be in solidarity”
However, Peter Schölander highlights that Höganäs residents have managed to save around 20 percent of energy, while the corresponding figure for the municipality is around 10 percent.
– If we are to ask our municipal residents to save, we must also set a good example. It’s about being in solidarity with our residents, but also with all of Skåne and electricity area 4’s residents to avoid possible shutdowns this winter.
Depending on what the electricity price will be in the future, the municipality expects to save around SEK 100,000 a month by turning off every third street lamp out of the total of 7,800 that are scattered around the municipality. But other expenses are also reviewed.
– Something that is relevant right now is that we will not set up our ice rink in the square as it is standing and draws a lot of power and it is important to send a signal that we have to be careful about our electricity consumption right now. We have also looked over our properties and adjusted the timers, says Jacob von Post, head of the public buildings administration.
The decision to turn off the lights has evoked mixed reactions from the residents of Höganäs. Especially since many feel that it happened unevenly, and that it has thus become very dark in some places.
“Could have turned off completely”
The Housing Authority has also come out and warned of safety risks in connection with the fact that several municipalities have chosen to reduce outdoor lighting to save electricity. Something that Höganäs municipality believes it has taken into account in its decision.
– Safety and security are extremely important issues for us and we therefore urge residents to report if they feel that it has become very dark somewhere. We also have technicians out when it is dark who go through every single street with lighting to see if it has become too dark at intersections and pedestrian crossings, says Jacob von Post.
According to Peter Schölander, the shutdown was preceded by impact analyses, but that despite this, there may be misconnections that can be corrected afterwards.
– If we would have turned off all the lights it would be too much, if we took every second it would probably also be too much so we think every third light should work.
– Another alternative could have been to turn off certain streets, but that didn’t feel right from our side, says Jacob von Post.
Hundreds of notifications
Ulf Liljefors, electricity grid manager at Höganäs Energi, who is responsible for street lighting, also confirms that the shutdown may have hit unevenly in some places. The simple explanation for this is that the shutdown must be done manually in each electrical cabinet.
– In theory, it should be every third lamp that goes out, but in some places the street lighting is of an older model and then it can affect the connections. But there we have our teams who go out and make sure that this is arranged when we become aware of it. So if an entire area is pitch black, it’s wrong, and then we get to fix it.
It is also to Höganäs Energi that all error reports come, which is currently up to a total of 361, compared to the same period last year, which was 71.
Currently, approximately 80 percent of the lamps consist of LED lighting. When asked why they didn’t choose to fog instead of switching off completely, the answer is that it simply doesn’t work.
– We do not have the technical equipment in our posts. They are not built for that. But we will look at it in the future when we build new ones.