EXETER, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire town of Exeter won’t be decorated with holiday lights this season, as it faces code issues with a utility.

Scott Wade of Unitil tells the Portsmouth Herald his biggest concern was attaching the lighted garlands to the utility’s poles in downtown Exeter. Unitil installed some new poles this summer that changed the overall electric layout of downtown. Wade said the garland gets close to energized electrical lines; they can’t be within 40 inches.

Beth Dupell, who chairs the Holiday Lights Committee in Exeter, said Unitil has an “extensive list of to-dos” that are code- and insurance-related, and the garland wouldn’t be set up in time.

Dupell said the bright spot is it appears the tradition can happen next year once things are brought up to code.