Orem residents frustrated that new streetlights not flipped on months after installation

OREM, Utah — Several Orem neighborhoods have brand new streetlights, but there is just one problem — they have not been turned on. So, after millions of taxpayer dollars spent and months after they were installed, frustrated residents want to know why they are not on.

“You can’t even see the sidewalk,” Alene Alger said of her dark neighborhood.

Alger said she is not just frustrated over the inconvenience of having to bring a flashlight along for an evening walk.

“Crime has come up. We’ve had people walking around in the dark, shining flashlights in the people’s cars. We have had stolen property being stashed,” she said.

But why is it so dark?

Orem installed a bunch of brand-new streetlights way back last summer. But Alger’s street, and several others, have been left in the dark ever since.

“It’s not only our street, there’s pockets of this around town,” she said. “They’ll see parts of them that’s turned on and parts that aren’t. So, I’m not understanding why we’ve been left in the dark.”

Alger said she has called both the power company and the city multiple times.

“First of all, they say, ‘Oh, there’s a problem with the power company.’ When you call the power company, they say, ‘Oh, no, it’s the city’s problem.’”

Not sure where else to turn, she said it was time to call the KSL Investigators.

To try and shine some light on the answers, we reached out first to Orem City. They told us all the I’s have been dotted and T’s crossed — it’s now up to the power company to flip the switch.

So, we called Rocky Mountain Power. Their spokesperson had good news. Alger’s neighborhood was on the schedule for the following week, he said.

And just like that, the lights are finally back on in Alene Alger’s neighborhood.

She told us when the lights came on, the whole neighborhood clapped.