And the most significant lesson will be a lack of evidence of an increase in crimes and offences
Wikinight
This 2021 message from the ADEME French Agency:
Nearly 40% of metropolitan municipalities swith-off their street lighting part of the night and 8% vary the intensity lighting. Small towns are more likely to switch-off completely public lighting in the middle of the night, while the large municipalities are content to decrease the intensity:
– 43% of municipalities under 2,000 residents turn off street lights compared to only 7% of municipalities over 50,000 inhabitants;
– 6% of small municipalities use dimming versus 19% for the cities. We can conclude that the latter are more equipped with management systems.
From an october 2022 press article from online news Reporterre website:
In Chambéry, Colmar, Agde or Nevers, this weekend of mid-October is that of transition. As in many French municipalities, elected officials have chosen to switch-off public lighting at night. In certain districts of Metz, the change occurs on October 12. In Trouville-sur-Mer it was the 9th and in Saint-Brieuc the 5th. In the Vienne department, 240 municipalities (out of the 260 in the department) also cut off the light on October 3rd. And the list is still long. Particularly because other cities had gone into extinction for longer, such as Saint-Nazaire since 2018 or more recently Strasbourg (since March).
From a discussion on the Webastro forum:
An informal compilation of towns practicing complete or partial switch-off, established between 07/15/2022 and 01/06/2023.
- Belfort: https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/bourgogne-franche-comte/doubs/crise-energetique-extinction-de-l-eclairage-public-baisse-du-chauffage-dans-les-piscines-la-ville-de-belfort-annonce-une-serie-de-mesures-2625580.html
- Besançon: https://www.besancon.fr/actualite/plan-de-sobriete-de-la-ville-de-besancon/
- Bordeaux: Sud-Ouest & L’extinction de l’éclairage public de 1h à 5h du matin | Bordeaux
- Brive (47.000 inhab.): https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nouvelle-aquitaine/correze/brive/prix-de-l-energie-brive-va-eteindre-entierement-son-eclairage-public-2625504.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1664546394
- Carcassonne: https://www.lindependant.fr/amp/2022/09/28/carcassonne-la-ville-prevoit-lextinction-de-leclairage-public-la-nuit-pendant-une-periode-de-6-mois-10697506.php & https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/occitanie/aude/carcassonne/comment-l-extinction-de-l-eclairage-public-a-permis-a-la-ville-de-carcassonne-d-economiser-presque-300-000-euros-2756110.html
- Châlons-en-Champagne (45.000 inhab.): https://www.leparisien.fr/marne-51/a-chalons-en-champagne-les-lampadaires-seteignent-la-peinture-seclaire-22-11-2022-SQYTIUCGD5ENLESMGX644KVVJU.php & Plan de sobriété énergétique
- Chambéry (60.000 inhab.): https://www.h2oradio.fr/article-chamb-ry-crise-energetique-la-ville-va-eteindre-son-eclairage-public-H2O-1641.html & https://www.chambery.fr/actualite/4930/140-14-octobre-2022-extinction-de-l-eclairage-public-dans-la-nuit-de-vendredi-a-samedi.htm
- Châtellerault (32.000 inhab.): https://m.lanouvellerepublique.fr/chatellerault%2Fchatellerault-reduction-de-deux-heures-de-l-eclairage-public-dans-une-partie-de-la-ville
- Clermont-Ferrand: https://www.lamontagne.fr/clermont-ferrand-63000/actualites/a-clermont-ferrand-l-eclairage-public-va-etre-eteint-la-nuit-et-le-chauffage-baisse-dans-les-ecoles-et-les-gymnases_14191580/
- Colmar: https://www.dna.fr/amp/environnement/2022/10/04/bientot-la-nuit-noire-au-centre-ville-de-colmar
- Creil (35.000 inhab.): https://www.courrier-picard.fr/id347787/article/2022-10-03/la-ville-de-creil-va-couper-son-eclairage-public-au-coeur-de-la-nuit
- Evreux: https://actu.fr/normandie/evreux_27229/evreux-eteint-une-partie-de-son-eclairage-public-la-nuit_55188197.html
- Fontainebleau (16.000 inhab.): https://actu.fr/ile-de-france/fontainebleau_77186/fontainebleau-eclairage-public-chauffage-quelles-mesures-de-sobriete-energetique_54299104.html
- Forcalquier: https://www.hauteprovenceinfo.com/article-38750-la-ville-de-forcalquier-eteint-l-eclairage-public.html
- Hérault (département – 1.165.000 inhab.): https://www.herault-energies.fr/extinction-de-nuit-de-leclairage-public
- Limoges: https://www.limoges.fr/actualites/eclairage-public-lextinction-nocturne-est-repoussee-1h-du-matin
- Metz: https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/grand-est/moselle/metz/extinction-de-l-eclairage-public-la-nuit-et-baisse-du-chauffage-la-ville-de-metz-annonce-son-plan-d-economie-d-energie-il-va-falloir-mettre-le-turbo-2622744.html
- Nancy: https://actu.fr/grand-est/nancy_54395/des-ce-jeudi-l-eclairage-public-eteint-la-nuit-dans-tout-un-quartier-de-nancy_57035352.html
- La Rochelle: https://www.aunistv.fr/la-rochelle-on-va-eteindre-la-lumiere-dans-les-rues-plus-longtemps-des-lundi-31-octobre/
- Meudon (45.000 inhab.): https://www.meudon.fr/et-la-lumiere-seteint/
- Montélimar: https://www.francebleu.fr/amp/infos/environnement/montelimar-coupe-l-eclairage-public-la-nuit-1658498392
- Morlaix (15.000 inhab.): https://www.letelegramme.fr/_amp/066/13197066.php
- Nantes: https://metropole.nantes.fr/sobriete-energetique
- Nîmes: https://www.midilibre.fr/amp/2022/11/28/nimes-des-vendredi-la-ville-eteint-une-partie-de-leclairage-public-la-nuit-10832698.php
- Orléans: Economies d’énergie : le plan d’action de la ville d’Orléans | Orléans métropole (orleans-metropole.fr)
- Périgueux: https://www.sudouest.fr/dordogne/perigueux/perigueux-comment-la-ville-met-en-place-l-extinction-de-l-eclairage-public-11801665.php
- Reims: https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/grand-est/marne/reims/chauffage-eclairage-public-reims-annonce-son-plan-de-sobriete-pour-faire-face-a-la-crise-energetique-2625496.html
- Roanne (35.000 inhab.): https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/loire/roanne/sobriete-ce-n-est-pas-rassurant-de-se-retrouver-dans-une-ville-toute-noire-en-hiver-la-mesure-ne-fait-pas-l-unanimite-2624336.html
- Rodez:https://www.centrepresseaveyron.fr/amp/2022/09/27/rodez-de-1-h-a-5-h-du-matin-leclairage-public-sera-eteint-dans-toute-la-ville-10682136.php
- Saint-Brieux (44.000 inhab.): https://www.letelegramme.fr/_amp/691/13193691.php
- Saint-Dié (20.000 inhab.): Chauffage, éclairage… Ce que le plan de sobriété énergétique réserve aux habitants de Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (francebleu.fr)
- Saint-Etienne: https://www.leprogres.fr/amp/environnement/2022/11/14/l-eclairage-public-va-s-eteindre-une-partie-de-la-nuit
- Saint-Lô (16.000 inhab.): https://www.francebleu.fr/amp/infos/environnement/economies-d-energie-saint-lo-va-eteindre-l-eclairage-public-de-23h-a-6h-dans-les-quartiers-1663272911
- Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines metropole (230.000 inhab.): Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Sobriété énergétique : les communes de l’agglomération éteignent la lumière | La Gazette de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (lagazette-sqy.fr)
- Soissons (28.000 inhab.) : À Soissons, l’éclairage public sera interrompu la nuit (lunion.fr)
- Strasbourg: https://www.francebleu.fr/amp/infos/economie-social/economies-d-energie-strasbourg-eteint-son-eclairage-public-une-partie-de-la-nuit-1665761510
- Toulouse: https://actu.fr/occitanie/toulouse_31555/sobriete-energetique-cinq-mesures-entrent-en-vigueur-des-ce-week-end-a-toulouse-voici-lesquelles_54839921.html
- Tours: Tours. Extinction de l’éclairage public : l’expérimentation commence | Actu Tours
- Vélizy-Villacoublay (21.000 inhab.): https://actu.fr/ile-de-france/velizy-villacoublay_78640/velizy-villacoublay-le-maire-annonce-l-extinction-de-l-eclairage-public_53983430.html
- Vesoul (28.000 inhab.): https://www.lapressedevesoul.com/actualite-62806-la-ville-de-vesoul-va-couper-l-eclairage-public-entre-23-h-et-6-h.html
- Vichy (25.000 inhab.): ECONOMIES D’ÉNERGIES Orientations 2023 – Espace Presse (ville-vichy.fr)
And also:
- Angoulêmes: Angoulême_Mag_107.indd (angouleme.fr)
- Saumur (30.000 inhab). Since 2012. And spread out between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. depending on the district starting in 2023.
Another discussion from the Webastro forum:
And those who ended the experiment…:
- Lyon: https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/rhone/lyon/plan-de-sobriete-lyon-plonge-dans-le-noir-la-nuit-la-mesure-forte-des-ecologistes-2633184.html & https://actu.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/lyon_69123/lyon-les-lumieres-des-rues-ne-seront-plus-eteintes-la-nuit-voici-a-partir-de-quand_57106946.html