Streetlights in San José are increasingly going dark due to people stealing the copper wire that powers them. These crimes leave streets and sidewalks dark, posing safety challenges at night for people driving, walking, riding bikes, or waiting for transit. The repairs needed to get the lights working again are expensive and time consuming. And the locations needing attention are piling up quickly.

How you can help

If you see a streetlight that doesn’t turn on at night, please report it to the Department of Transportation (DOT) Dispatch at 408-794-1900 or through the San José 311 website, app, or Customer Contact Center (just dial 3-1-1). We will need the street name and nearby address where the dark light is located. Providing the streetlight identification number (located on the pole, facing the street) makes tracking the reports and coordinating the repairs much more efficient. These reporting tools are not set up to provide status updates, so you'll need to send a follow-up email to streetlights@sanjoseca.gov if you want to check in on the status of your repair request.

Above Image: A number facing the street on the side of a streetlight pole.

What we’re doing

DOT has developed a plan to not only repair the damaged streetlights but also, in collaboration with law enforcement, prevent people from vandalizing the lights again. Many of these locations are in more remote parts of the city, where thieves have more time to steal the wire, making prevention an important tool. But getting to all the locations in need is going to take time.

Above image: A map showing the locations of reported streetlights darkened by wire theft. Click to open an interactive map in a new window. 

The monthly number of streetlight outages keeps rising. From July through December 2023, there was an average of 24 lights a month affected by wire theft. The number went up from January through June 2024, with an average of 167 lights impacted each month. Since the beginning of July, there has been yet another surge, adding to the repair backlog. To date, we have been alerted to 712 outages due to copper wire theft. We've been able to repair 216 of those, but more that 500 areas remain dark while we work to get people and supplies assigned.

All those pending repairs make it impossible for us to respond as quickly as we like. It is currently taking up to four months - occasionally longer - to restore wire theft related outages. We appreciate your patience as we work to address this issue in multiple ways.