The capital of Lithuania has started dimming or, in some places, even switching off street and public space lights due to a drastic rise in electricity prices.
According to Andrius Deimantas, director of the municipal company Vilniaus Apsvietimas (Vilnius Lighting), the authorities have already reduced lighting time, while lighting intensity has been cut down by 20%.
“People have not yet noticed that, as we don’t get any calls. Therefore we are reducing the intensity and the time of lighting, in particular cutting lighting in tunnels,” he told members of Vilnius Municipal Council last week.
Other measures include switching off lighting at children’s playgrounds after 22:00, at dog parks and in some stadiums, Deimantas said.
Vilniaus Apsvietimas has worked out three plans ranging from the mildest to the most severe one. Depending on electricity prices, one of them will be used to save electricity and fit within the available budget.
Vilnius local authority has said that annual expenditure on lighting will increase by 4 million euros due to a surge in electricity prices from August but the measures worked out by Vilniaus Apsvietimas will allow saving approximately 1 million euros. (LRT/Business World Magazine)