A major street lighting trial has saved more than half a million pounds and cut energy use in Leicestershire.
Now plans are in the pipeline to make the changes permanent following the results of the 18-month night-time dimming pilot.
Leicestershire County Council dimmed most streetlights to 30% brightness between 8pm and 7am from January 2024 to June 2025.
Its cabinet will now consider fully adopting the scheme after results showed it saved nearly £540,000 and enough energy to power up to 500 homes for a year.
Cllr Charles Whitford, county council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “By making these changes permanent we will be saving both money and energy going forward.
“We know people had some concerns ahead of this trial, but the data has shown some promising results.
“We will of course keep listening to residents, working with communities and looking at the evidence available when making decisions about streetlighting.”
The council has more than 70,000 streetlights, and while the majority were dimmed, no changes were made to lighting levels in town centres, at zebra crossings, and in areas with known safety concerns.
The council has not received any formal complaints about the scheme and studies show there was an overall fall in overnight accidents in 2024, compared to the previous year.
For more information on the trial, visit our web page.
Cabinet will discuss this on Friday 12 September meeting details on our website.
The report is on the agenda at Highways and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee this afternoon.