Did you turn off lights for Earth Hour? Many York Region residents did
Thousands of Aurora, Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan residents reduced power use: Utility

YorkRegion.com
March 25, 2018
Lisa Queen

Were you one of the tens of thousands of residents who turned off their lights for Earth Hour last night?

Alectra Utilities, which provides power to more than one million customers including to several local communities, saw a 1.5-per cent decrease in electricity consumption for Earth Hour between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. March 24.

That’s enough to power 1,314 average-sized homes for 24 hours.

Aurora saw a 4.1-per cent decrease in power usage compared to normal electricity consumption at the same time.

In Bradford West Gwillimbury, electricity use went down 5.4 per cent during Earth Hour.

Markham’s electricity consumption dipped 0.9 per cent, while Richmond Hill’s dropped 3.1 per cent and Vaughan’s declined 3.6 per cent.

Several York Region communities, including Newmarket, Markham, Vaughan and Whitchurch-Stouffville, held Earth Day events and encouraged residents not to use unnecessary electricity.