Glittering streetlight repair work spotlights longer contract

Written by Miami Today on October 27, 2026

After spotlighting good performance on an emergency contract to keep streetlights repaired and shining in Miami-Dade County, commissioners last week voted to turn a two-year fill-in job into a longer-term contract for the vendor.

The county hired Horsepower Electric of Hialeah on an emergency basis last year when it dismissed the predecessor firm because only 79% of the county’s 28,300 streetlights were working and the county’s minimum standard is 95%. Under Horsepower, 96.2% are now operating.

“The contractor has done a very good job of bringing our system up to 96% operational percentage. They have also worked with us to do replacement of wires that have been – we have wire theft issues,” said Stacy Miller, director of the county’s Department of Transportation and Public Works.

Horsepower has also replaced knocked-down poles “that previously we were not doing a very good job of replacing,” Ms. Miller said, “so while we still have a ways to go, they have performed very well in that area.”

The report brought praise from commissioners.

“I will have no problem to extending this contract out to make sure that they continue to do the good work that they do,” said Sen. René García, who noted that Horsepower is based in his back yard.

Danielle Cohen Higgins recalled that last year she had spoken about the nonfunctional streetlights in her district “and how I considered that to be a public safety issue.” Citing the gain from 79% to 96%, she added, “I simply wanted to say thank you to the department, thank you to the vendor. We need to take a moment to highlight good outcomes for our community, and I think this is one example of that.”

Oliver Gilbert then suggested the county’s eventual action, which was to not simply extend the emergency contract but negotiate a final contact with Horsepower as the vendor rather than seeking new bids to replace an emergency vendor.

Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez agreed, saying “I do believe that a company, whether they’re local or not, that does the good job – that should count for something.”

Since the emergency contract began last year, Horsepower has restored 3,407 streetlights and 317 streetlight poles, replaced more than 150,000 linear feet of stolen wires, and repaired underground damage at 304 locations, a report to commissioners said.

The two-year contract before commissioners was for $29.4 million. Because it was an emergency contract,” Ms. Miller said, “we knew that the prices would be a bit higher than our normal pricing.” Commissioners did not discuss a price range for a longer-term agreement with Horsepower.