Cold weather could be to blame for higher energy consumption in London during this year's Earth Hour observance.
Hydro demand in the Forest City was actually 2.5%, or 10 megawatts higher on Saturday evening compared to last spring.
In a release, Jay Stanford, Director of Environment, Fleet & Solid Waste says this didn't come as a complete surprise.
“We have experienced a 1 percent to 6 percent reduction in electricity demand in this one hour period in previous years. However, the impact of this year’s colder weather for Earth Hour makes comparisons difficult and may even hide what has actually occurred locally as data could be interpreted as dropping if we had a better comparator date. Further, all of this must be taken in the context that between 2007 and 2013, electricity consumption in London has dropped by about 5 percent even as the City has grown.”
The Independent Electricity System Operator reported that Ontario reduced demand by 2.6%, or 436 megawatts.
This drop is more than the average peak electricity demand in a city the size of Windsor.
Homes, businesses and city of London facilities reduced consumption from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
