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A Duke Energy streetlight casts a purple hue on a tree and the asphalt on Ransom Road in Winston-Salem.

Street lights in Winston-Salem have some people seeing purple.

And that’s literally true, because some lights that Duke Energy has been installing are defective and over time begin to cast a purple glow over their illuminated space.

Duke Energy Corp. is working to repair or replace its LED street lights that have turned purple, a company spokesman said Saturday.

While the vast majority of Duke Energy’s LED lighting performs well in communities across the state, the spokesman said, the company has identified some that have turned from the standard white color to a deep purple color.

Jimmy Flythe, the director of local government community relations for Duke Energy, said that the problem with the lights did not become immediately apparent because they only change color over time.

And because workers who change the lights might draw from different batches as they go about their jobs, there’s no record of where the lights have been placed that turned out to be defective, he said.

The problem with the lights is called delamination, Flythe said. Flythe didn’t know the technical details, but the bottom line is that the lights are giving off purple light.

Winston-Salem isn’t the only place where the lights have cropped up. Not by any means.

An internet search shows reports of purple lights in places as diverse as Wisconsin, Florida and Iowa.

The change in color is due to a manufacturer defect that was identified earlier this year and is being addressed, Duke Energy said.

Other than being purple, the street lights continue to work, the company said.

Flythe said the easiest way for people to report a purple light is to go to the company’s web site at www.duke-energy.com and click on the offending light.

To do that, click on the customer service link at the top of the page, then click again on the link to request a light repair. Eventually a map pops up that one can use to pinpoint the exact light needing a fix.

“We have got some, and as people are reporting them we will change them out,” Flythe said.

Still, on social media some people are appealing for folks to not report the lights.

“I love the ones on Reynolda. Let’s all NOT report them,” said one member of a Facebook group that solicits comments on all things Winston-Salem from its members.

Another person talked about a purple light on West End Boulevard that “freaks me out every time I walk toward it,” despite seeing it all the time.

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A Duke Energy streetlight casts a purple hue on a tree and the asphalt on Ransom Road in Winston-Salem.

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