Street lights in Round Rock to soon move from Oncor to city ownership

Streetlights owned by electric provider Oncor Electronic Delivery Company LLC will soon come under city ownership and maintenance.

Officials approved steps to move toward the cost-saving goal Mach 9.

This comes nearly two years after officials ordered a street light inventory and audit in June 2021, partially in anticipation of a new maintenance agreement for street lighting with the Texas Department of Transportation. At the time, officials contracted with Tanko Streetlighting to determine the location of all streetlights within city limits, who owns them and what the cost benefit to the city might be.

In June 2021, Round Rock Transportation Department Director Gary Hudder said the ownership of street lighting within the city by an outside entity produces confusion for residents, and the city could maintain them for less than the $731,497.32 a year that it contracts with Oncor to take care of its 5,604 streetlights.

"It is one of the ongoing, big challenges that we have all the time with the community," Hudder said at the time. "Street lamps [are] not working; they've been knocked down in an accident; why aren't we coming to fix them; they're not ours to do that."

In addition to a resolution authorizing City Manager Laurie Hadley to send a letter of intent to Oncor sharing the city's desire to purchase its street lighting system within city limits, the Round Rock City Council approved a consulting services agreement with Tanko Streetlighting for final ownership support. The contract's scope of services includes guiding the process of assuming ownership, negotiating and consulting on the purchase from Oncor, as well as a conversion to LED lighting, city documents state. Services provided by Tanko Streetlighting through this agreement will cost the city $172,865, paid from its general fund.