Earth Hour trumps 2010 savings by two times
By Nelson Daily Staff
By turning off the lights for one hour between 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, British Columbians saved 117 megawatt hours of electricity and reduced the provincial electricity load by 1.8 per cent during Earth Hour — almost twice as much as in 2010.
Power saved during Earth Hour was the equivalent of turning off about 7.8 million 15-watt compact fluorescent light bulbs, BC Hydro said Sunday.
The community with the highest reduction in consumption — six per cent — was Pitt Meadows. Tumbler Ridge was next at 4.95 per cent, followed by Kitimat and Whistler at 4.35 per cent each and Maple Ridge at 3.9 per cent.
Neither Nelson nor any other West Kootenay community made the top 50 in reductions in the province, according to BC Hydro.
Greater participation by commercial and industrial customers is believed to be one the main reasons for the increase, officials said.
While B.C. consumers enjoy some of the cheapest electricity rates in the world, the future is not as bright as the recent past.
Many of the dams, generating stations and transmission lines built during the Crown corporation’s salad days between 1950 and 1980 are showing their age.
B.C. Hydro is asking the provincial regulator to approve $6 billion worth of upgrades to the aging facilities over the next three years.
Earth Hour is an annual global event hosted by the World Wildlife Federation. People are asked to turn off unnecessary light and electronics to conserve power and demonstrate support for the fight against climate change.
