BC Hydro says due to poor turnout, it’s no longer tracking Earth Hour

BC Hydro says there was a 0.2 per cent increase in energy consumption during Earth Hour last year.

So BC Hydro spokesperson Tanya Fish said there was no point in tracking electricity use during Earth Hour this year.

“The change in energy consumption during Earth Hour over recent years had been so minimal, so we found it difficult to attribute it to the event,” she said after Saturday’s Earth Hour came and went.

Fish says one reason may be that British Columbians are more energy efficient throughout the year anyways, so they don’t feel a need to turn off the lights for that hour.

“British Columbians are getting the energy efficient message, so we did find that energy use throughout that hour, their change is pretty insignificant, so we don’t actually find it effective to track that usage anymore,” she said.

Earth Hour happened Saturday night at 8:30 p.m.

Even if British Columbians tend not to participate, major landmarks such as the Empire State Building and Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour turned off their lights for the hour.

Fish says if you’d like to see how much energy you used during Earth Hour, you can check your account on their website.