Memphis City Council approved Tuesday a schedule of fees for street lighting service for MLGW customers within the Memphis City limits. The fees become effective in the first billing cycle of January 2014.

The street light fees are a City Council initiative. Memphis Light, Gas and Water has always operated, maintained and repaired more than 100,000 streetlights in Shelby County. A city ordinance passed in June 2013 changed the way streetlight billing will work in the City of Memphis, effective January 1, 2014. Currently, MLGW bills the City of Memphis directly for energy and other costs related to street lighting inside the City.

On January 1, per City ordinance, MLGW will begin billing streetlight fees to utility customers within the city limits. MLGW will collect the nearly $13 million it costs to operate Memphis' 83,000 streetlights on utility bills according to the fee schedule.

The fees are $1.08 per month for apartment residents; $4.32 per month for other residential customers; $6.48 per month for small commercial customers; and $19.07 per month for large commercial customers.

MLGW is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving more than 421,000 customers in Memphis and Shelby County.