On the consent calendar for the June 2 Fullerton City Council meeting is an item to approve $163.26K in purchase orders to convert 42 aging streetlights in northeast Fullerton from a decades-old electrical system to solar-powered technology.

The proposal, scheduled for consideration, would authorize a $140,159 purchase order with Fonroche Lighting America for solar lighting fixtures and a $23,100 purchase order with SASCO for installation services. The total project cost is $163,259 and will be funded through gas tax revenues already budgeted in the city’s Fiscal Year 2025-26 Capital Improvement Program.

The project targets the Derek Street lighting circuit, located in the neighborhood north of Yorba Linda Boulevard and east of Associated Road. The area recently experienced prolonged streetlight outages after a transformer failure left dozens of lights inoperable.

According to city staff, the outage highlights a growing problem with Fullerton’s aging streetlight infrastructure. The city operates approximately 51 high-voltage series streetlight circuits serving roughly 3,000 streetlights. The system relies on electrical transformers owned by Southern California Edison and lighting circuits owned by the city.
Officials say the technology has become increasingly difficult to maintain because replacement transformers are no longer widely manufactured. When failures occur, replacement parts can take months to obtain.

In the case of the Derek circuit, Southern California Edison informed the city that replacing the failed transformer could take as long as eight months, leaving residents without reliable street lighting during that period. Rather than waiting for a replacement transformer, city staff is recommending conversion to solar-powered fixtures. The proposed project would replace the existing lighting heads while retaining the current poles, reducing construction costs and minimizing disruption to the neighborhood.

The conversion follows a similar project completed along Bastanchury Road, where the city retrofitted 69 streetlights with solar-powered fixtures. Staff reports that the project improved lighting reliability, reduced energy consumption, and lowered long-term maintenance costs.

Under the proposal, Fonroche Lighting America would provide the solar fixtures through a cooperative purchasing agreement with Sourcewell. This government purchasing cooperative allows public agencies to purchase pre-bid goods and services without conducting separate competitive bidding. SASCO would install adapters and replace the existing fixtures with solar-powered units.

If approved, staff anticipate beginning work in July 2026 and completing the project by late August. City officials say residents in the affected neighborhood will be notified before construction begins.
The item appears on the June 2 consent calendar, meaning it could be approved without discussion unless a council member requests that it be pulled for separate consideration.