Hydro One encourages customers to power down for conservation this Earth Hour

TORONTO, March 20, 2013 /CNW/ - Last year, Hydro One customers saved enough energy to power the city of Belleville during Earth Hour. This year, Hydro One is urging its customers to save even more than the 202 MW saved last year by turning off lights and unplugging unnecessary appliances on March 23 from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. Hydro One customers will join millions of people worldwide in conserving energy in support of Earth Hour.

"Hydro One is proud of the savings achieved by our customers last year and is encouraging our customers to conserve even more," said Giuliana Rossini, Director, Strategy and Conservation Officer, Hydro One. "Earth Hour helps to remind electricity consumers that small conservation acts can lead to large benefits."

Hydro One has participated in Earth Hour since 2008, encouraging its employees to turn off lights at home and at work before leaving for the weekend. Hydro One will also turn off all non-essential electrical equipment at its facilities across the province, but will need to keep on some lighting for the safety of the public and workers.

Hydro One customers interested in finding out how much electricity consumption they reduced during  Earth Hour can sign up for the Time-of-Use portal at: www.HydroOne.com/myhome. Hydro One will post its results on twitter at @HydroOne when available.

Earth Hour is a global WWF initiative. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn off non-essential lighting for one hour on Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 8:30 p.m. to show their support for action on climate change. The event began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and has since grown into a global movement reaching more than one billion.

Hydro One delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes and businesses across the province of Ontario and owns and operates Ontario's 29,000 km high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 123,000 km low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end-use customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly owned by the Province of Ontario.

SOURCE: Hydro One Inc.

Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868. Our website is www.HydroOne.com.