Richmond's participation in Earth Hour seems to be flickering - but we're not as bad as Abbotsford, where it appeared to be business as usual during the annual, symbolic 60 minutes of energy saving.
The city reduced its power usage by just 2.3 per cent on Saturday between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., down from three per cent last year.
However, Richmond was still well ahead of the provincial average of just one per cent, placing 20th out of the 69 cities recorded by B.C. Hydro.
And it was nowhere near as bad as Abbotsford, where it seemed the Earth Hour message wasn't even delivered, with the city achieving a meager 0.1 per cent reduction.
Across the province, British Columbians saved 65 megawatt hours of electricity - the equivalent of turning off about 1.4 million lights.
Earth Hour, an annual global event hosted by the WWF, encouraged individuals to turn off unnecessary lights and electronics to demonstrate support for climate change reduction efforts.
Earth Hour savings by year: 2013: 1.95 per cent reduction in overall provincial load; 2012: 1.67 per cent reduction; 2011: 1.8 per cent; 2010: 1.04 per cent. Whistler finished top of the B.C. Earth Hour list with an impressive six per cent reduction, closely followed by Esquimalt on 5.8.
B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Simi Heer acknowledged the 2014 Earth Hour savings were less than in the previous year, but said the issue is one of promotion.
"This event is a symbolic event for us," said Heer. "We don't rely on it for energy savings. Our savings come from our Power Smart program."
