Purple lights, electric car charging stations

Maybe you’ve noticed a slight purplish quality to certain lights along some of Jasper’s streets. St. Charles has several lights casting a science fiction-inspired glow on the road at night.

According to Jasper’s Electric Distribution ManagerJerry Schitter, the interesting color change is due to a manufacturing defect in a batch of LED lights the department received last year. Many were installed at various locations around the city and rather than tracking down each bulb from the identified defective batch, the electric department is replacing them as they change color.

Schitter said they have replaced about two-thirds of the defective bulbs so far.

In additional electric news, Jasper has plans to install two electric vehicle charging stations. One will be located in the city-owned parking lot next to the Jasper Post Office and a second will be located near the River Centre. Both will be able to charge two vehicles at a time.

While installation is expected to begin this week, they won’t be active until later this month when the Jasper Utility Service Board obtains final approval on the rate that will be charged for recharging cars on the units.