Ladysmith had the third-highest reduction in energy consumption in B.C. during Earth Hour Saturday night.
British Columbians saved 121 megawatt hours of electricity and reduced the provincial electricity load by 1.67 per cent during Earth Hour, according to a news release from BC Hydro.
That's about the same as the 1.8-per-cent drop last year — and it's the equivalent of turning off about nine million 12.5-watt LED light bulbs, noted BC Hydro.
Revelstoke had the highest reduction in consumption at 12.1 per cent.
Pemberton measured the second-highest decrease at 6.8 per cent, and Ladysmith was third with a 5.8-per-cent drop.
North Cowichan reduced its energy consumption by 4.8 per cent, while Duncan's consumption dropped 4.1 per cent, and Nanaimo's consumption fell 2.6 per cent during Earth Hour.
Ninety-one communities across B.C. registered their participation in Earth Hour.
Earth Hour is an annual global event hosted by the World Wildlife Fund and supported provincially by BC Hydro. The goal of the event is to encourage individuals to turn off unnecessary lights and electronics in an effort to conserve power and, in doing so, demonstrate support for climate change reduction efforts, according to BC Hydro.
“Energy conservation is the most cost-effective way to meet future energy demand," said Charles Reid, acing president and CEO of BC Hydro. "If people applied the same simple conservation measures for even one hour every day for the whole year, the combined savings would power close to 4,000 homes for an entire year. Next year, during Earth Hour when smart meters are fully deployed, people will be able to track their own results from the day before through a secure online portal to help them realize how little measures really do add up to energy savings.”