When she wanted to watch the Perseid meteor showers in the night sky this past August, Gladys Bassett's star gazing was thwarted by her yard light.

"I was ready to shoot the yard light out," said Bassett, who is retired and lives 13 miles outside of Custer. "I like to see the stars, especially when there are meteors. But the yard light really contributes to light pollution."

Thanks to an innovative new program by Black Hills Electric Cooperative that is designed to reduce nighttime light pollution, Bassett is no longer tempted to shoot out her yard light just to enjoy a starry night sky. Instead, she simply aims a remote-controlled key chain switch at her yard light for instant darkness.

BHEC's pilot program, which began last week, has only about 20 homeowners enrolled, but it hopes to learn how well the remote-controlled equipment stands up in the field and how well-utilized it is by homeowners like Bassett.

The cooperative has about 8,500 members in five western South Dakota counties. Eventually, it could offer its "see the stars" yard light program to about 500 customers with a yard light.

For environmental, aesthetic and energy-saving reasons, interest in the pilot program has been intense, said Dan Hutt, general manager and executive vice president of BHEC.

"For years, homeowners have told us they want switches for their lights. They don't want them on all the time," Hutt said.

Integrating the cooperative's pole wiring with a customer's in-home wiring is cost prohibitive in most cases, but the remote-control pole-top sensors accomplish the same thing.

After 14 years of dealing with a yard light she couldn't shut off, Bassett was quick to join the pilot program. "The minute I got my letter, I called."

The remote-control switch works great, she said, but unfortunately, she's been too busy this past week to do much star gazing.

We applaud BHEC for its attempts at customer service and energy conservation, and we encourage more electric companies to do the same.

And we hope Bassett gets to wish on many, many more shooting stars.