The majority of street lights have been removed from one Michigan city that was having trouble paying its electricity bill.

DTE Energy Company has already repossessed 1,400 street lights in Highland Park as a part of a deal to forgive $4 million in unpaid bills going back at least five years. The company expects the rest of the work to be completed by Oct. 31.

The city council calls the plan the “Highland Park Lighting Improvement Project” because it will also replace 200 lights on street corners with more efficient models.

“We’re trying to keep (costs) down so the taxpayers don’t have to pay extra money,” Mayor Hubert Yopp said Tuesday.

The city hopes that the reduction of service will curb their overall electric bill from more than $60,000 per month to about $15,000 per month.

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