British Columbians saved 15 megawatt hours of electricity and reduced the provincial electricity load by 0.2 per cent during Earth Hour last night — the equivalent of turning off about 680,000 LED light bulbs, says BC Hydro.
However, that is just fraction of what had been saved in previous years.
Earth Hour is an annual global event hosted by the WWF. People around the world are encouraged to turn off unnecessary lights and electronics for one hour. It started as a one-city initiative in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 and rapidly spread around the world.
BC Hydro customers can view their individual energy use for Saturday evening by logging onto MyHydro — their online account at bchydro.com/myhydro. They can get an hourly breakdown of their electricity use.
Here, according to BC Hydro, is the reduction in electricity load by community during Earth Hour:
| City | Savings |
| Whistler | 7.2% |
| Invermere | 6.7% |
| Clearwater | 4.0% |
| Houston | 3.9% |
| Logan Lake | 3.2% |
| Richmond | 2.9% |
| Sooke | 2.3% |
| Port Edward | 2.3% |
| Prince Rupert | 2.3% |
| Sidney | 2.1% |
| Hope | 2.0% |
| North Saanich | 2.0% |
| Esquimalt | 1.9% |
| Highlands | 1.9% |
| Duncan | 1.7% |
| View Royal | 1.7% |
| Central Saanich | 1.7% |
| Saanich | 1.6% |
| Port Alberni | 1.6% |
| Metchosin | 1.6% |
| North Cowichan | 1.6% |
| Colwood | 1.5% |
| Langford | 1.5% |
| Kitimat | 1.5% |
| Victoria | 1.5% |
| Coldstream | 1.4% |
| Oak Bay | 1.4% |
| Ladysmith | 1.3% |
| Kamloops | 1.2% |
| Enderby | 1.2% |
| Spallumcheen | 1.2% |
| New Westminster | 1.2% |
| Sicamous | 1.0% |
| West Vancouver | 1.0% |
| Port Moody | 1.0% |
| Coquitlam | 0.9% |
| Langley DM | 0.9% |
| Delta | 0.8% |
| North Vancouver DM | 0.8% |
| North Vancouver City | 0.8% |
| Bowen Island | 0.8% |
| Port Coquitlam | 0.7% |
| Vancouver | 0.7% |
| Burnaby | 0.7% |
| 100 Mile House | 0.7% |
| Surrey | 0.6% |
| Abbotsford | 0.6% |
| Anmore | 0.5% |
| Belcarra | 0.5% |
| Mission | 0.5% |
| Powell River | 0.5% |
| Peachland | 0.5% |
| Summerland | 0.5% |
| West Kelowna | 0.5% |
| White Rock | 0.5% |
| Sechelt | 0.5% |
| Chilliwack | 0.5% |
| Pitt Meadows | 0.4% |
| Quesnel | 0.3% |
| Wells | 0.3% |
| Maple Ridge | 0.3% |
| Squamish | 0.3% |
| Comox | 0.1% |
| Courtenay | 0.1% |
| Fort Nelson | 0.1% |
Revelstoke does not appear on this list because, Hydro spokesperson Simi Heer said, the data did not come in properly
Earth Hour savings, in terms of overall provincial load, by year:
2015: 15 megawatt hours or 0.2 per cent;
2014: 65 megawatt hours or 1 per cent;
2013: 136 megawatt hours or 1.95 per cent;
2012: 121 megawatt hours or 1.67 per cent;
2011: 117 megawatt hours or 1.8 per cent;
2010: 64.6 megawatt hours or 1.04 per cent;
2009: 72.67 megawatt hours or 1.1 per cent; and
2008: 125 megawatt hours or 2 per cent.
BC Hydro provides tools, resources and incentives to help people conserve year-round. For more tips on how to be smart with your power, visit bchydro.com/powersmart. Since 2008, BC Hydro’s Power Smart programs have saved close to 4,776 gigawatt hours per year of electricity – enough to power 440,000 homes annually.
