Town sees slight dip in power usage for ‘Earth Hour’

At least some local power customers turned out the lights and switched off their televisions for “Earth Hour” this past Saturday night, with the Fort Frances Power Corp. reported a three percent reduction in electricity usage between 8-9 p.m.
Lori Cain, cost and regulatory analyst for the FFPC, said Fort Frances residents consumed 330 kilowatts less power—or 9.7 megawatts instead of 10 megawatts—during that time period compared to the previous three Saturdays.
“It’s not bad,” said Cain, though admitting not much was done to promote “Earth Hour” locally.
She wished she would have had the time to advertise the campaign, the purpose of which was to get people to turn off lights and electrical appliances for one hour Saturday night to raise awareness about climate change.
While the FFPC supports energy conservation on an ongoing basis, Cain noted that maybe next year, it will do more specifically to promote “Earth Hour” in schools and the community in general.
“From what we hear in the industry, that’s the way we’re heading. It’s conservation, it’s awareness, it’s efficient use,” she stressed. “It’s the way things are going to be in the future.”
Don Lee, who owns the Lee Garden restaurant on Scott Street, and his family were among those who observed “Earth Hour” locally.
“I registered with the ‘Earth Hour’ website to say that we did it, and they e-mailed us a photograph off of their website showing the difference in Toronto.
“It was a photo of the skyline from a helicopter and the difference was astounding in terms of power that was reduced,” he remarked.
“In town, we turned off our lights and took a walk around the neighbourhood, and it was a 50/50 mix, whether people were observing it or not,” added Lee.
“We kind of observed it as a family time, as well. We turned on the TV, but other than that, we kind of sat in the dark with a flashlight.
“I have two young kids, and it was kind of neat for them. It sets a good example for them.”
In his defence, Lee noted he had the TV on because, like many other Canadians, he was watching the hockey game.
“David Suzuki was on ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ for a second there, and he said it as all right to keep the TV on for the game.
“I figured if David Suzuki said it was all right, who am I to argue with the Great Suzuki?” he reasoned.
Lee said his family tries to make it a habit of turning off lights when they’re not in a room, and otherwise try to reduce their “energy footprint” on a regular basis.
“[‘Earth Hour’] was kind of a neat thing,” Lee said. “Hopefully, it gets people to do that kind of thing more often without having to be prompted by a national campaign.”
“I think they’re going to do [the campaign] annually, and hopefully every year it begins to build,” he continued. “In other places like Australia, where it started, I guess it’s difference is amazing in terms of power use during that hour.”
At a most practical level, Lee said electricity conserved is “money in our pocket.”
“If you’re not using it, turn it off,” he stressed. “You’re not going to pay for it. It’s the one controllable expense in a world that’s gone nuts with higher costs.”
Lee Garden was closed at 8 p.m. on Saturday as per its regular business schedule.
But Lee conceded it would have difficult to effectively observe “Earth Hour” and remain open since the building only has two windows in the front—leaving customers and staff totally in the dark.
“I would like to, but it just isn’t practical,” he laughed.