The Demopolis City Schools System has been awarded a $15,000 grant aimed at increasing the system’s energy efficiency.

It marks the fourth consecutive year the school system has received a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) Energy Division. The funds are going to be used to replace exterior lighting at Demopolis High School.

The project is expected to cost approximately $30,000.

“This year we will use it for exterior lighting at the high school, which has been a serious issue,” said Superintendent Al Griffin. “We will use capital money to offset it, the $15,000 will go toward making it happen and we’ll get it done throughout this year. We’re very excited to have it.”

According to Griffin, over time the circuits buried underground have been compromised, which has resulted in outages.

“It seems the lights would always be out at the most inopportune times,” Griffin said. “We’ve had several complaints and it’s a problem we needed to get fixed.”

Griffin said the new lights will be energy efficient and will be on a timer, which will help save the school system money.

Last year, the school system used an ADECA energy grant to help purchase energy-efficient lamps for the gyms at U.S. Jones Elementary, Demopolis Middle School and Demopolis High School.

In previous years, the school system has used ADECA energy grants to install air conditioning units at U.S Jones Elementary and Demopolis Middle School gymnasiums.