July 7, 2009
Street Lights Out? Call Austin 3-1-1

Austin Energy customers who wish to report a street light out or to request installation of a street light should now call Austin 3-1-1, the City’s information line. Customer service representatives at Austin 3-1-1 are available 24/7 to take service requests for street lighting issues, which will be electronically forwarded to Austin Energy. Each service request is issued a unique tracking number, which allows callers to follow-up on the status of their report. Austin 3-1-1 issues service requests to 26 City of Austin divisions.

Austin Energy is responsible for maintaining the more than 75,000 street lights within the Greater City of Austin area. This includes street lights on that portion of state highways located within Austin city limits.

Austin Energy crews handle roughly 9,700 street light maintenance requests per year, completing 98% of work orders within 3 days. The utility also repairs or replaces some 200 street lights damaged each year in traffic accidents or stormy weather. Much of the work is done during early morning hours to avoid impeding traffic flow, especially during rush hour commutes.

When Austin Energy receives a request for a new street light, the request is assigned to a designer, and within 24 to 48 hours the designer will contact the customer for an appointment to meet at the proposed location. Certain criteria must be met in order for Austin Energy to install a new street light. AE installs on average about 1,100 new street lights each year.

Customers can still send reports on streetlight outages to Austin Energy directly by emailing lightingrepair@austinenergy.com. Power outages should always be reported by calling 322-9100.