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Earth hour a bust in B.C.

Earth hour a bust in B.C.

British Columbians saved only 15 megawatt hours of electricity for this year's Earth Hour, the lowest savings in the past eight years.

By turning off unnecessary lights and electronics for one hour, the province reduced its electricity load by 0.2 per cent according to BC Hydro. That's the equivalent of turning off 680,000 LED lights said the utility in a release.

The savings are well below those recorded in 2013, when a 1.95 per cent reduction was achieved — the greatest in the past eight years.

Earth Hour began as a one-city initiative in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and is now a global event hosted by the World Wildlife Fund.

Yesterday Whistler had the most lights-out of any municipality in B.C. It reduced its electricity load by 7.2 per cent while Vancouver only managed 0.7 per cent.

The lowest reduction recorded by BC Hydro was a tie between Courtenay, Comox and Fort Nelson at 0.1 per cent.