Gas Goes High Fashion

Even though natural gas prices are higher this year, some of the demand is aesthetic- and convienence-based.

Gas heats swimming pools, clothes dryers and faux fire places and lends a torch to streetlights. Since 2000 when Arkansas Western Gas Co. installed its first gas streetlights in Bentonville’s Avignon subdivision, 378 gas streetlights have been installed in the area. The lights generate about $3,000 in revenue for AWG annually.

Developer Charles Reaves said he thinks AWG has gotten more aggressive in its promotion of gas street lights, of which he will eventually have about 300 installed at his Shadow Valley subdivision in Rogers.

At current rates, the cost to operate a gas streetlight is about $22 per month.

“The major advantage of a gas streetlight is that they are attractive,” Reaves said. “The disadvantage is that they don’t put out a lot of light.” Reaves said some residents, especially those that live close to the lights, like the fact that they are dimmer.

Gas lights also do not attract bugs and stay lit during power outages.