Enmax reports “imperceptible change” in Earth Hour energy use
Posted Mar 29, 2015 12:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Thousands of events were held around the planet for Earth Hour Saturday night, but in Calgary it didn’t really make a difference to the numbers.
The global initiative encourages people to turn off their lights for one hour, in hopes of saving energy and raising awareness about energy use.
Doris Kaufmann Woodcock, spokesperson for Enmax, said 2015’s event saw an “imperceptible change.”
“In Alberta, somewhere between 70 to 80 per cent of the electricity that’s used is for commercial and industrial needs, which really leaves you only with 20 to 30 percent that is being used for residential purposes, so of of those 20-30 per cent, you have to wonder how many people are actually participating in the event,” she said.
Kaufmann Woodcock agreed that Earth Day doesn’t make a huge overall difference in Calgary power consumption.
“Typically, we don’t see much of a change during Earth Hour itself as far as how much electricity is being used in the city, but that’s irrelevant, Earth Hour really is a symbolic event and it’s intended to get people thinking about how they use electricity and conserve electricity throughout the year; it just so happens it’s celebrated on one particular night.”
She said it is hard when Earth Hour starts at 8:30 at night, since that is when it gets dark outside and people start turning on their lights.
