Photo by Howard Owens
Recently, there have been complaints on social media about residential street lights being out. This morning, The Batavian came across a National Grid crew replacing a light at Maple Street and Ganson Avenue in the City of Batavia.
A crew member said they are replacing all burned-out lights in the city in time for trick-or-treat. At least all they know about -- in this case, today, that's 11.
They only know about a light that needs replacing, he said, if a resident calls in a burned-out light. There are no crews driving around at night looking for burned-out lights, and there is no computer system to inform National Grid of burned-out lights.
He said last week, he was working on a reported 32 lights out in the city. At one stop, a resident asked him if he was going to replace the light "around the corner." He told the resident it wasn't on the list. "Did you call it in?" The resident thought National Grid should already know about it. Again, National Grid only knows if a resident calls it in.
The number to call is the company number on your National Grid bill.
He also said he recently replaced a light on Jackson Street that he knew he had replaced a couple of weeks before. They found a BB-shot hole in the light.
National Grid is responsible for any street lights on a utility pole. If it's not on a utility pole, and it's within the City of Batavia, it is probably the responsibility of the city.
