B.C.’s enthusiasm dims for Earth Hour

Provincial grid records show energy savings from turning off lights far below previous levels

Earth Hour was a bust in B.C. this year.

The annual initiative to highlight energy conservation by turning off lights and other sources of power consumption was held Saturday from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and resulted in a savings of 15 megawatt hours, or 0.2 per cent in overall production load, according to B.C. Hydro.

But the saving in 2014 was 65 megawatt hours or a one-per-cent reduction in overall provincial load and falls far short of the 2013 high of 136 megawatt hours and a 1.95-per-cent reduction.

The bust in B.C. was in contrast to the rest of the world where, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature — the Earth Hour organizer — there was “record participation by 172 countries and territories.”

There was a social media reach of 384 million on Facebook and Twitter between March 23 and 29, and the lights went off at more than 1,400 landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.

Also going out were lights at landmarks such as the Science World dome and B.C. Place Stadium — but only after the Vancouver Whitecaps game.

David Miller, president and CEO of WWF Canada, said individuals, businesses, cities and countries are making changes to fight the most devastating impacts of climate change.

“The true impact of Earth Hour is how change is happening outside the hour, in everyday actions and decisions,” he said in a statement.

B.C. Hydro declined to speculate on the lack of participation because, as spokesman Simi Heer noted in an email, “this is a WWF event.”

John Axsen, an assistant professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, didn’t think Earth Hour was marketed very extensively this year.

Axsen doesn’t think turning off lights in B.C. is a good way to mark Earth Hour because our lights come from hydro power, which is one of the greenest sources of energy.

“Our emissions are much more serious from driving, for example,” he said. “In terms of climate change in B.C., it doesn’t seem to make sense to be turning off lights.”

The message he’d like to send would be to support policies that reduce emissions and fight climate change.

STEVE BOSCH/PNG The lights were out at Science World in Vancouver, right, during Earth Hour on Saturday night. The lights at B.C. Place Stadium stayed on until the Vancouver Whitecaps game ended.