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North Cowichan and Ladysmith rank 10th and 11th on BC Hydro's list of top Earth Hour communities

Vancouver Island communities score big improvements over their 2012 Earth Hour power savings.
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Ladysmith residents join hundreds of millions of participants from across the globe as they prepare for a voluntary hour of darkness at 8:30 p.m. Saturday

The results are in following Saturday night's voluntary Earth Hour blackouts and Vancouver Island communities have overshadowed the competition.

Led by Courtenay and Comox's shared 9.8 per cent power savings, Vancouver Island communities filled 22 of the top 25 spots on BC Hydro's list.

North Cowichan fell behind ninth-place Duncan this year, dropping from sixth to 10th with a 7.7 per cent reduction in power use.

Ladysmith -- ranked third in B.C. following Earth Hour 2012 -- improved on its 5.8 per cent savings from last year, but dropped out of the top ten. The town's 7.3 per cent savings earned it an 11th place finish.

Top-ranked Revelstoke dropped out of the running this year after reducing its savings from 12.1 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

Collectively, communities across British Columbia saved 136 megawatt hours of electricity -- equal to turning off 10 million LED light bulbs -- while reducing "the provincial electricity load by 1.95 per cent."

While gaining in popularity on Canada's West Coast, residents of Canada's energy capital have shown little desire to participate. CBC reports there was "no change" in Calgary's power consumption during the annual event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to raise awareness of climate change.





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