Solar power to fix 60,000 LA streetlights following surge in copper thefts

Following pilot programs in West LA, a new executive directive seeks to clear a 32,000-request repair backlog.

Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive directive Friday to launch a citywide infrastructure project that will repair or replace up to 60,000 streetlights over the next two years, an effort aimed at curbing a surge in copper wire theft.

The “Street Lights Initiative,” established through Executive Directive 18, creates a partnership between the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the Bureau of Street Lighting (BSL). The program is designed to modernize the city’s lighting network and address a backlog of 32,000 outstanding service requests.

The citywide rollout follows a similar initiative in Mar Vista, where Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Traci Park introduced a plan for solar-powered lights to replace units damaged by copper thieves and a dedicated repair crew. 

Mayor Bass will continue to work with Yaroslavsky, who chairs the Budget and Finance Committee, and Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, chair of the Public Works Committee, to implement the phased upgrades.

Local activists had sounded the alarm about increasingly dark streets all over the city, which increases the danger of car versus pedestrian accidents. 

A central component of the plan is the transition to solar technology. Because solar lights do not require the underground copper wiring targeted by thieves, they are significantly more resilient to the vandalism that has caused copper wire theft to increase by 1,200% over the last decade. City officials noted that repairs caused by these thefts cost at least four times more than standard maintenance.

Of the city’s 220,000 total streetlights, approximately 60,000 are eligible for solar conversion. Beyond theft prevention, the initiative supports the city’s goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2035.

The agreement involves hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to assess and install the new units. Hundreds of solar streetlights have already been deployed in neighborhoods including Watts, Historic Filipinotown, Granada Hills, and Van Nuys.