Supervisor Wiener proposes city policy to upgrade streetlights to pedestrian grade, accelerate LED conversion and centralize ownership
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Summary
Supervisor Wiener introduced legislation to set citywide standards for streetlight service, move toward pedestrian-grade lighting and accelerate LED conversion; the measure would make it city policy to pursue acquisition of PG&E-owned streetlights by the PUC.
Supervisor Wiener introduced legislation to set official city policy and standards for street lighting in San Francisco, focusing on repair response times, pedestrian-grade illumination, LED conversion and data tracking.
Wiener told the Board that San Francisco—s streetlight system is old, unreliable and has suffered deferred maintenance. The legislation would create a uniform standard for streetlight repairs, with simple outages to be corrected within 48 hours of a report, require that new or upgraded lighting be evaluated for conversion to pedestrian-grade fixtures that better illuminate sidewalks, and improve integration of PG&E-maintained lights into the city—s 3-1-1 reporting system with more detailed repair reporting.
The proposal would also accelerate transition to LED technology and require improved GIS tracking of the streetlight inventory. Wiener said the long-term policy should be for the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to acquire PG&E—s streetlights so the city would have a single operator rather than split ownership that complicates repairs.
Wiener noted PG&E has indicated support for PUC acquisition in prior hearings but warned the process would be complex and costly. He added that the recently adopted budget had begun to include streetlights in the PUC—s 10-year capital plan.
Ending: Wiener asked colleagues to cosponsor; Supervisor Cohen was added as a cosponsor. The ordinance was introduced; no final vote occurred at this meeting.
