The Tri-Cities' effort for Earth Hour was dim, with all five municipalities ranking near the bottom for B.C. cities taking part in last Saturday night's global initiative.
Despite its heavy promotion of the annual climate-change event, Port Coquitlam dropped a mere 2% in electrical consumption between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on March 31.
Still, the reduction was the best in the region with BC Hydro registering a 1.85% decline in each of Coquitlam and Port Moody, and a 1.82% power savings in Anmore and Belcarra.
That compares with Revelstoke, which recorded the highest in the province at 12.1% followed by Pemberton at 6.8% and Ladysmith at 5.8%; Houston captured the worst score with 0.1%.
Pardeep Purewal, PoCo's communications manager, said in the two weeks leading up to Earth Hour, the city encouraged residents and businesses - as well as its own employees, the Business Improvement Association and School District 43 - to join the campaign by finding daily energy savings such as turning off non-essential lights and power sources.
City council also recognized and proclaimed Earth Hour at its March 19 council meeting and staff offered tips on its website, Purewal said.
As for Coquitlam, where council last week adopted a Community Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy targeting emissions for land use transportation, buildings, energy supply and solid waste, the city's energy manager Trevor Billy pointed out that Coquitlam's score was better than the provincial average of 1.67%.
"We are happy that the city experienced a decline in energy consumption but it is important to note that the city and residents should continue to be aware of energy use throughout the year as well," Billy said. "We have a number of operational and behavioral initiatives going on in the city to reduce corporate energy emissions all year. And we always encourage residents to find out ways to reduce their own power use throughout the year."
The city of Port Moody didn't return a call for comment.
Earth Hour is an hour-long lights-out event created by World Wildlife Fund, designed to show people how they can take part in a climate solution. Major landmarks around the world went dark during the allotted time period, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, Buckingham Palace in London and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
In total, 91 communities across B.C. registered their participation in Earth Hour.
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Ten tips to reduce energy use year-round, courtesy of portcoquitlam.ca:
Use LEDs to replace existing light bulbs
Unplug appliances (coffee maker, toaster) when not in use
Lower the thermostat by four to five Celsius when sleeping and when no one is home
Turn off computer monitor or computer when not in use
Unplug chargers for phones, iPads, etc.
Wash laundry in cold water
Hang laundry to dry or select a lower drying setting
Clean or replace furnace filters periodically
Wash a full load in the dishwasher and air-dry dishes on the energy-saver setting
Turn off lights when leaving a room
