Revelstokians achieved the highest reduction in power consumption during Saturday evening’s Earth Hour.
A statement from BC Hydro said Revelstoke’s reduction amounted to 12.1 per cent. Pemberton measured the second highest decrease at 6.8 percent. In total, 91 communities across BC registered their participation in Earth Hour.
In totals, British Columbians saved 121 megawatt hours of electricity and reduced the provincial electricity load by 1.67 percent during Earth Hour last night – about the same as the 1.8 percent drop last year – and the equivalent of turning off about 9 million 12.5-watt LED light bulbs.
The event shows that British Columbians can make a difference in energy conservation through simple efforts, the utility said.
Earth Hour is an annual global event hosted by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and supported provincially by BC Hydro. This was the fifth year Hydro has supported it. The goal of the event is to encourage individuals to turn off unnecessary lights and electronics in an effort to conserve power and in doing so, demonstrate support for climate change reduction efforts.
British Columbia is growing, and so is the need for electricity. BC Hydro is working to meet at least 66 per cent of new electricity demand through conservation and energy efficiency by 2020. In the last three years alone, BC Hydro’s Power Smart programs have saved close to 3,000 gigawatt hours of electricity – enough to power 270,000 homes annually. In addition to conservation, BC Hydro will meet demand and continue to ensure a clean, reliable supply of energy by investing now in the projects that are needed to keep the lights on in our province for the next 50 years.
“Energy conservation is the most cost-effective way to meet future energy demand,” BC Hydro’s Acting President and CEO Charles Reid said in the statement. “If people applied the same simple conservation measures for even one hour every day for the whole year, the combined savings would power close to 4,000 homes for an entire year. Next year, during Earth Hour when smart meters are fully deployed, people will be able to track their own results from the day before through a secure on-line portal to help them realize how little measures really do add up to energy savings.”
Cities and towns in 135 countries turned off their lights this year. In Canada, 511 municipalities took part, with utilities throwing their support behind the campaign.