Las Vegas looks to solar power to keep streetlights on, thieves away

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — Solar powered streetlights installed in the Las Vegas valley could help deter copper wire theft and keep residents out of the dark.

More than a million feet of copper wiring has been stolen from Clark County since early 2002, with 500,000 feet of that just in the last two years, leaving thousands of residents across the Las Vegas Valley in the dark.

Now, the county is fighting back by testing out a new way to turn the lights back on.

For Marion Bigas, the installation of these new light poles on the east side of the valley was a welcome sight during his Thursday morning walk.

“You can’t walk at night, let’s put it that way,” Bigas said. “All up and down Lamb, Boulder Highway. This is just all over.”

He has lived in the area for nearly 35 years, and a lot of those recently have been in the dark. And he is not alone.

“No matter where you are, you’ve been left in the dark and in Clark County, we think that is unacceptable,” District A Commissioner Michael Naft explained.

On Thursday, Aug. 22, Commissioner Naft, Clark County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom, and Manager of the Traffic Division for Clark County Jimmy Benoit gathered for the installation of the very first solar-powered streetlight on East St. Louis Avenue near Fremont Street.

Images below compare an older streetlight with one of the new solar streetlights.

Crews installed 12 brand new solar streetlights which are powered purely by the sun and only contain solar panels, batteries, and the light itself far out of reach of thieves.

“These new units are cost effective and hopefully will limit the vulnerable of the circuits because now wire is involved,” Benoit explained.

It is the first-of-its-kind in the valley and a test to see if it works. The County has installed solar-powered streetlights in outlying areas near Bunkerville and Searchlight where limited power is available. This is the first time Clark County is installing solar-powered lights in the Las Vegas Valley.

“Oh yeah, it will help big time. You can see they have been doing it for a while now, so this is going to help,” Bigas said.

There are currently 65,000 streetlights in Clark County and this new dozen is just a test for now, with plans to expand depending on how these new lights do during this pilot program. The county is also looking at strengthening laws and stepping up enforcement to stop the ongoing copper wire thefts.

You can report street light outages to the county here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.