Energy saving ideas shine bright at Earth Hour in Vaughan
yorkregion.com
March 19, 2016
By Tim Kelly
A Vaughan man and his son bonded over a car at, of all things, Earth Hour Saturday night.
Mind you, it was an electric car and a high-concept Tesla at that.
Rob Triffo and son Josh, 10, couldn’t stop talking about the car made famous by inventor-billionaire Elon Musk, about which they learned some facts at a display at Vaughan City Hall.
“I learned that you could drive a Tesla from our place to Mystic, Conn., where we have family, in one shot completely for free - now I just have to figure out how to afford a Tesla,” joked Rob, who said the current model runs about $90,000 U.S.
For Josh, the cool fact was that the Tesla’s dashboard is totally touch screen.
Rob notes that, as of March 31, the newest Tesla model will be coming out for the average buyer and is priced to sell at $35,000 U.S. so his dream could well be in reach.
Several hundred Vaughan residents joined the Triffos - mom Jennifer and daughter Rachel, 8, were also in tow - for Earth Hour events at City Hall Saturday.
They mingled among energy-saving displays and then went outside at 8:30 p.m. as the lights were turned out for an hour. A small bonfire was lit and then residents who wished to brave sub-zero temperatures went on a half-hour guided lantern walk.
For Joe Figliomeni of Vaughan, the night was a chance to bring his seven-year-old daughter, Sophia, along and teach her a few things about saving energy.
Sophia said she was having fun and learning a lot.
Figliomeni thinks Earth Hour “helps kids and adults to save energy, but once a year isn’t good enough, it’s repetition, that’s how people learn, the more we repeat it, the better.”
He said he tries to run the dishwasher and use electricity after hours, doesn’t use a gas-powered mower and tries to plant his own garden.
Leanne Shapiro of Vaughan brought along her 10-year-old daughter, Natasha, and twins Dina and Justin, 6.
“We celebrate Earth Hour every year, always have. This is the first year the twins were old enough. Natasha’s come a few years to Earth Hour,” Shapiro said.
“We have learned about some products and some hands-on things about what we can do at home to conserve energy.”
She said solar shades and LED lights were high on her list for energy conservation.
Prior to the lights going out, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua welcomed the crowd and thanked them for coming.
“Earth Hour is about future generations...it’s a way for us to manifest our love and affection of all things that speak to the future,” Bevilacqua said.
“We are here together, we need to leave this Earth better than we inherited it and that’s our responsibility,” he added.
The mayor presented a $5,000 cheque from his annual gala to Earth Hour Vaughan.
Vikram Singh of PowerStream told the crowd Earth Hour resulted in “reduced power in our service territory by 61 megawatts last year. That’s enough to power 76 homes for a month.”
This year's reduction was slightly less than last year, PowerStream reported.
STATS BY COMMUNITY
PowerStream’s System Control Centre reported a service territory-wide 4.2% per cent electricity consumption reduction between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. This was a decrease from the 6 per cent reduction achieved collectively last year by customers in PowerStream’s service territory during Earth Hour 2015.
The 2016 results represented a total savings of 43 megawatts (MW) in peak demand, or enough electricity to power 1,303 average-size homes over a 24-hour period. The reductions achieved per municipality in 2016 were as follows:
Municipality |
% Reduction* |
MW Reduction* |
Aurora |
5.9% |
2.98MW |
Barrie |
5.4% |
7.42MW |
Bradford West Gwillimbury |
7.8% |
1.66MW |
Essa (Thornton) |
16.9% |
0.17MW |
Markham |
4.1% |
11.07MW |
New Tecumseth |
5.3% |
1.53MW |
Penetanguishene |
4.3% |
0.47MW |
Richmond Hill |
4.1% |
5.67MW |
Vaughan |
3.7% |
12.04MW |
PowerStream Service Territory |
4.2% |
43.00MW |
*(in comparison to a typical consumption pattern normally experienced on a similar type of day, taking into consideration hour of the day, time of year and weather).
In addition to powering down the lights at its four work locations in Vaughan, Markham and Barrie, as well as reporting municipal power consumption reduction totals throughout its service territory during Earth Hour, PowerStream sponsored the Vaughan Earth Hour Lantern Walk held a Vaughan City Hall as well as the Markham Earth Hour Lantern Walk at the Cornell Community Centre. At both events, PowerStream had displays showcasing the energy conservation programs the company offers both residential and business customers.
