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Power consumption drops for Earth Hour

Summerlanders were happy to do their part in saving power on Saturday evening.

Summerlanders were happy to do their part in saving power on Saturday evening.

Earth Hour 2013 was held on March 23 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The annual global event was hosted by the World Wildlife Fund and supported by B.C. Hydro and Fortis B.C.

The campaign to “switch off” was to motivate people to turn off unnecessary lights and electrical devices in order to save energy.

“Turning the lights off for Earth Hour signifies that British Columbians want to conserve energy. It also shows that we can use less electricity than we usually do,” said Rich Coleman, Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas.

“Conserving energy helps our environment and has the added benefit of saving money on electricity bills.”

According to information released from Fortis B.C., participation in this year’s Earth Hour by the 17 communities in the Kootenays and Okanagan, resulted in a 5.7 megawatt drop in electricity consumption or the equivalent of switching off 96,000 60-watt incandescent light bulbs.