News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

The province’s electricity load dropped by 1.04 per cent during Earth Hour last night. The individual community in B.C. with the highest reduction in consumption – seven per cent – was Burns Lake.

From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. British Columbians saved 64.6 megawatt hours of electricity – the equivalent of turning off about 1.4 million lights.

Earth Hour, an annual global event hosted by the WWF and sponsored provincially by BC Hydro, encourages individuals to show their support for the fight against climate change. More than 80 communities in B.C. signed up to participate in Earth Hour 2010.

If British Columbians implemented the same conservation measures just one hour every evening, the combined savings would be enough to power close to 2,200 homes for an entire year.

This year marks the third year of BC Hydro’s participation in the event. In 2009, there was a 1.1 per cent reduction in the overall electricity load. In 2008, the drop was measured at two per cent.

BC Hydro encourages British Columbians to join Team Power Smart to set a personal electricity conservation target. Team Power Smart provides tools, resources and incentives to help people conserve year-round. For example, washing your clothes in cold water, turning off the heated-dry function on your dishwasher and turning down the heat by one degree are all simple changes people can make everyday to conserve.

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