The regional development department confirmed that nearly 17,000 street lamps in Northern Ireland were not working.
Tens of thousands of broken street lights may not be able to be repaired during the winter due to budget cuts.
The ministry stated that under normal circumstances it would not be able to provide the services expected by the public.
Last month, the department released a draft budget for next year, which included savings of £ 65.
There are about 280,000 street lights in Northern Ireland.
Regional Development Department (DRD)
The warning states that unless external contractors pose an "electrical hazard" to the public, they will suspend the use of external contractors to repair the bad lights.
DRD has reportedly had 24,000 power outages, of which nearly 7,500 have been cleared.
"No street lamp repairs will be carried out and the department will continue to give priority to all reported failures," a spokesman said . ".
"Before further notice, our
The house contractor will try to deal with as many street lamp defects as possible.
"Under normal circumstances, however, they will not be able to provide the services that the public expects.
Electrical and structural safety defects will be given priority, followed by a large number of lights out.
"Failure of small groups or individual street lights will be a lower priority, and unfortunately thousands of street lamp defects may not be fixed during the winter months.