Electricity use higher in Midland during Earth Hour

Simcoe.com
March 23, 2016
By Travis Mealing  

Earth Hour advocates urged people to reduce electricity consumption between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, but the message appears not to have been heeded in Midland.

According to Blaine Osmond, energy services manager of the Midland Power Utility Corporation (MPUC), power use was actually higher by 294 kilowatt-hours, or 1.52 per cent, Saturday night compared to the average of the three previous Saturdays.

“I think what’s happening is consumers are reducing energy year-round,” he said, citing the prevalence of high-efficiency appliances and the trend toward greener lifestyle choices.

Osmond added it is difficult to measure the impact of Earth Hour in isolation because the campaign mainly consists of asking people to turn off their lights.

“And nowadays most people have installed energy-efficient lighting,” he said. “It’s really hard to tell how much of a difference it makes. People don’t turn off their ovens and all that stuff, which are the big users of electricity.”

The MPUC also compared Saturday night to last year’s Earth Hour, and found consumption was lower by 547 kW-h, or 2.71 per cent.

“Earth Hour is meant as a symbolic gesture to create awareness for energy conservation and environmental issues,” said Osmond. “And it’s still doing a good job of that.”

In Penetanguishene, meanwhile, Earth Hour resulted in a 4.3 per cent (0.47 megawatt) reduction in electricity use compared to the typical consumption pattern of a similar type of day, taking into consideration hour of the day, time of year and weather.

“Earth Hour is a symbolic and meaningful event for residents to demonstrate their support to help fight climate change and shed light on how we can all make a difference by reducing our electricity consumption,” Maurizio Bevilacqua, PowerStream board chair, stated in a press release. “We are pleased with our customers’ response as participants in this global event.”