British Columbians saved 24 megawatt hours of electricity and reduced the provincial electricity load by 0.3 per cent during Earth Hour last night – the equivalent of turning off about 1.1 million LED lightbulbs.
Earth Hour is an annual global event hosted by the World Wildlife Fund that encourages individuals to turn off unnecessary lights and electronics in an effort to conserve power.
Nearly 190 countries and territories across seven continents participated as the global community came together to power down between 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.
Reduction in electricity load by region:
· Southern Interior: 7.9 megawatts less (1.7 per cent)
· Lower Mainland: 16.5 megawatts less (0.4 per cent)
· Vancouver Island: 3.3 megawatts less (0.2 per cent)
· Northern Interior: 3.4 megawatts more (0.4 per cent)
BC Hydro customers can view their individual electricity use for Saturday evening by logging onto their online account. They can get an hourly breakdown of their electricity use and compare it to the same time period the previous Saturday (March 18).
Since 2002, BC Hydro has invested over $1.4 billion in conservation – about $100 million per year on average. Last year, conservation programs achieved cumulative energy savings of 5,091 gigawatt hours. That’s enough to power 485,000 homes.
BC Hydro is offering in-store discounts on select energy-efficient LED bulbs and lighting fixtures until April 13. For tools, resources and incentives to help you be smart with power year-round, visit powersmart.ca.