Courtenay and Comox turned off more lights than other areas of the province during Earth Hour on Saturday evening.
From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, people all over the world took part in Earth Hour, an annual event hosted by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and supported provincially by BC Hydro.
According to BC Hydro, Courtenay and Comox each reduced electricity consumption by 3.9 per cent during that hour, which was a notably higher drop than the provincial average.
鈥淐ongratulations Comox and Courtenay. Both communities achieved a 3.98 per cent drop in electricity consumption, well above the provincial average drop of 1.67 per cent," said Jennifer Young, BC Hydro spokesperson. "Through simple efforts 鈥� like turning off unnecessary lights or electronics 鈥� you can make a difference in energy conservation.鈥�
Statistics for how much electricity the Village of Cumberland saved during the hour were not available.
In total British Columbians saved 121 megawatt hours of electricity and the equivalent of turning off about 9 million 12.5-watt LED light bulbs.
The 1.67 per cent saved provincially was close to last year's 1.8 per cent drop in consumption during Earth Hour.
This year, the community with the highest reduction in consumption 鈥� 12.1 per cent 鈥� was Revelstoke. Pemberton measured the second highest decrease at 6.8 per cent. In total, 91 communities across BC registered their participation in Earth Hour.
The B.C. Parliament Buildings went dark during Earth Hour, although Victoria as a community, only reduced its electricity consumption by 1.6 per cent, just under the provincial average, during the hour.
According to a Ministry of Environment news release, Earth Hour was started in 2007 by WWF and the Sydney Morning Herald. More than two million people took part in the event and about 4,000 cities participated. Now a popular event worldwide and growing every year, some of the landmarks that have gone dark like the B.C. Legislature include:
* Big Ben, London
* The Empire State Building, New York
* The Sydney Opera House, Sydney
* The Eiffel Tower, Paris
* The Parthenon, Greece
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, according to a BC Hydro news release.
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鈥檚 Power Smart programs have saved close to 3,000 gigawatt hours of electricity 鈥� 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.
