For the second year in a row, Whistler is the No. 1 energy saver in the province, reducing energy use by 7.2 per cent during Earth Hour.
The resort beat out 65 other B.C. communities for the win. Invermere came in a close second, dropping energy use by 6.7 per cent, while Clearwater was third, at four per cent. Squamish was near the bottom of the list, reducing energy use by 0.3 per cent, while Pemberton was not listed.
This year's savings were a full percentage point higher than last year, when the resort also topped the list.
In all, British Columbians saved 15 megawatt hours of electricity and reduced the provincial electricity load by 0.2 per cent — the equivalent of turning off about 680,000 LED light bulbs.
During the annual Earth Hour event at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler on Saturday, March 28, guests were treated to a few sustainable surprises.
Candlelit dinners, acoustic guitars and backyard fire dancers were all on hand when the lights went off between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.
There were also some pedal-powered smoothie machines.
"People really like it," said James Cowan, of People Power Productions, the company that provided the bikes.
"It's really innovative and it's quite simple. You've just got a blender that mounts on the back of the bike, you jump on, you make your smoothie and away you go."
With files from Brandon Barrett.
