If all you did was read the paper, you would think Meridian had taken the lead in the state when it came to energy conservation. New stop lights with LED lights, fluorescent bulbs being phased into city buildings and new idling policies for city vehicles. These are all good things but most will take years to break even before they show any savings. If you drive anywhere in the city around 6 p.m. you will see countless street and security lights on. The 30-plus lights on the 18th Avenue overpass have been on prior to 6 p.m. all summer, a good two hours prior to when normal streetlights come on and many of these lights remain on well past sunrise. I have pointed this out to the city for months with no response.
Adjusting these timers several times a year would be easy and result in immediate savings. However, the city is not the only offender; just check any hospital, school or parking lot like Wal-Mart and you will find the same problem. If those responsible for lighting would make an effort to at least adjust their timers twice a year when the time changes or put them on a photocell, I believe it would result in a noticeable reduction in wasted electricity. However, none of this is as absurd as the high school turning on 166 stadium/practice field lights for several hours during basketball games. Their excuse is they are needed for security but the truth is no one has taken the initiative to have proper lighting installed — two or three lights at most would solve the problem, but when it’s not your money why bother.
John Martin
Meridian
