Romain Bitot, edited by Alexandre Dalifard 06:18, December 27, 2022

Enedis observes a significant reduction in energy expenditure.

The energy manager speaks of a historic drop in consumption with a drop of 20% over the first 15 days of December.

This is explained by the decision of some municipalities to turn off public lighting at night.

Example in Chanteloup-en-Brie, in Seine-et-Marne.

Dealing with the energy crisis is the challenge for French towns and villages.

So, to achieve this, some mayors deploy tricks, such as turning off unnecessary lights.

A simple gesture which has been taken up by the municipalities and which works very well according to Enedis.

The energy manager speaks of a historic drop in consumption with -20% over the first 15 days of December, thanks in particular to the simple fact of cutting public lighting at night.

The town of Chanteloup-en-Brie, in Seine-et-Marne, has been there for a while.

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Savings of 15 to 20%

The city started by reducing the light intensity.

Last year, she replaced the old light bulbs with LEDs.

But for a month, all public lighting has been turned off between midnight and 5 am.

So inevitably, the bill has lightened for Olivier Colaisseau, mayor of Chanteloup-en-Brie.

"Public lighting represents between 30 and 40% of the energy bill of a community like ours. Cut a third of the time, the calculation is quickly done, you can save 15 to 20% of your bill. Knowing that the Electricity prices will triple next year," he said.

"It is therefore a very important and essential saving to be able to spend the winter precisely", adds the mayor. 

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The shared inhabitants

More light at night, that doesn't bother Emilien, especially since something has changed when he looks up at the sky.

"We can finally see the stars again, find a bit of the countryside atmosphere that we have lost in our cities. And I find that rather pleasant", he underlines.

On the contrary, others are more worried, like Sofia, an employee of a bakery.

She goes there every morning by taking her car and the ten-minute journey has become perilous.

"It's not lit anymore, we're not used to it. The street further, there are lots of bumps with manholes on them. And even, there could be something that appears in front of us without We don't realize it," she laments. 

However, it will take some getting used to.

The mayor of the town wants to keep public lighting off at night all next year.