"Night lighting is a crime deterrent and personally I like the roads at night to be lit at intervals. If I lived out in the open with straight roads I might not care but on winding dark roads in wooded areas it matters."
I have heard the argument advanced by the pols and the power companies. Nothing against power companies, I own some of their stock, but I stand by my suggestion and see the benefits outweighing the disadvantages. It is a simple solution with minimal associated costs that would save millions of barrels of imported oil. I know it is convenient to have the lights on all the time, but I just can't find the justification in imported oil.
Lights don't have to be on all the time. Around my neighborhood there are few street lights, many are in people's yards. They are sodium lights that come on at dusk. I have the one in my back yard off because my neighbor has one on the street side. Power company charges about $6 per month for the light. I wouldn't want to live in my neighborhood if there weren't any lights at night.