It was another Earth Hour on March 31, but you maybe wouldn’t have known it in Fort St. James.
Once again, Fort St. James had an almost negligible difference in energy use during the one hour set aside each year to try and recognize the amount of energy we use in our homes and communities.
The report released by BC Hydro saw reductions as high as 12.1 per cent in electricity use by Revelstoke, far ahead of second place participating community Pemberton, at 6.8 per cent.
While most participating communities managed to get energy use down by at least two percent, Fort St. James saw a very small difference of 0.2 per cent, the least reduction in B.C..
The results are being reported across the province, with CBC, the Victoria Times Colonist and the Surrey North Delta Leader so far mentioning Fort St. James’ last place showing.
Earth Hour is an annual global event hosted by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and supported provincially by BC Hydro. This year marks the fifth year of BC Hydro’s support of the event. 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.
In 2011, according to BC Hydro, British Columbia saved 117 megawatt hours of electricity, which amounted to a 1.8 per cent reduction in the province’s electricity load.
Close to 90 communities participatedin Earth Hour 2012.
“Everyone who took the opportunity to participate in Earth Hour deserves our thanks for helping to demonstrate the merits of energy conservation,” said Rich Coleman, minister of energy and mines, in a statement.
“We look forward to building on this year’s success as we work together to find ways to further conserve energy and keep electricity rates as low as possible for British Columbians.”