Ashby Foote believes too many streetlights are dark in the city of Jackson.
“I’ve been wrestling with the issue of lights for the 11 years I’ve been on the council,” said Foote, who represents Ward 1, during the Feb. 24 Jackson City Council meeting.
He went on to point out that drivers on Pascagoula Street headed to I-55 are “really in the dark” until they reach the interstate, but the problem of nonfunctioning streetlights isn’t confined only to downtown.
“It’s all over the place,” he said.
Mary Alex Thigpen, executive director of the Greater Belhaven Foundation, is focused on getting the lights that are attached to the traffic signals at Greymont Street and Fortification Street working.
“They’ve been out for several years,” she said.
The foundation is consulting with the city’s legal department about how it could obtain permission to maintain those lights, she said.
The confusion came, Thigpen said, after the foundation oversaw the Fortification Street overlay project many years ago; Entergy took responsibility for the streetlights and the city was responsible for the lights attached to the traffic signals, she said.
The Greater Belhaven Foundation conducted a social media campaign about a year ago that instructed neighborhood residents to download the Entergy app and use it to report streets lights that are out, and that’s worked well, she said.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn told council members that he had a “high level” meeting with Entergy about the problem of nonworking streetlights.
“There’s a lot of confusion about who owns what,” he said, noting that the city is seeking more information.
Streetlights that are out in downtown are repaired “more expeditiously” than those in other parts of the city, he said, but the issue is widespread.
Copper theft has been a problem and is one reason why some lights are not working, the mayor said.
The city pays a monthly fee to Entergy regardless of whether the lights work or not, Horhn said.
Depending upon the number of lights that are out, the city could be overpaying Entergy, he said.
Entergy was unable to provide information to meet the Northside Sun’s deadline at press time.
The city of Clinton no longer relies on Entergy for its streetlights.
Last year, Clinton paid more than $1.7 million to purchase all of its streetlights from Entergy Mississippi, using funds from a bond issue, according to The Clinton Courier. The city expected an annual savings of $350,000 because it would not have to pay rent on the lights.
In 2020, WLBT reported that the city of Clinton asked the Mississippi Public Service Commission to investigate whether Entergy’s charges for street lighting were “unjust, unreasonable, and materially excessive.” The city contended that the lighting was decades-old and should have been replaced by more energy efficient lighting.
WLBT reported that Entergy issued this statement:
“Entergy Mississippi has been charging the correct lighting rates that are authorized by state law. Under the Public Service Commission’s oversight of Entergy Mississippi’s rates and revenue collections, Entergy would not benefit from artificially inflating its lighting rates. The Company provides street lighting facilities as a service to municipalities, and the intent of this service is to allow the municipalities to provide street lighting to its citizens at a lower cost than the municipality could provide on its own, which saves taxpayers money. The lighting service includes installation, maintenance and replacement of lighting facilities, and purchase and storing of inventory, among other services. In 2015, our municipal street lighting rates were lowered significantly due to rate design changes requested by Entergy Mississippi and approved by the Public Service Commission. We believe we have been a good corporate citizen and partner to the City of Clinton, through the payment of more than $2 million in franchise fees alone over the past five years, donations to local community causes and help with economic development. We have been working with the City of Clinton to address its concerns, and we’re disappointed the City chose to file this complaint rather than to work with us on a potential resolution. If the City’s complaint recommendations are adopted, it will actually raise rates for all of our customers. From 2008 to 2018, our rates have stayed well below the state and U.S. averages. Currently, our average residential rates are about 24% below the U.S. average.”
