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One of our marketing folks sent me a request at the end of the day to crunch the interval data for this thing and see how much energy was saved. Not all AMRs manage to report every day so the consumption might be understated (in other words, the actual savings might be lower), but a quick glance at 30 or so apartment buildings seems to indicate about a 10% savings (1500 kWh from 8-9 PM vs. a more typical 1700 kWh or so, for non-electrically-heated buildings).
Haven't had a chance to look at the commercial data, but I'm guessing that the savings will be even less, since most retail stores and office buildings would have been closed anyway, and other businesses like restaurants and bars are using a lot more energy for refrigeration, ovens, HVAC, computers, etc. And I'm sure they didn't/couldn't all turn their lights off.
Really nothing to write home about, but it does match the figures in the article. Then again, that's excluding HVAC, so the extrapolation to 900 MW sounds way too high. I guess it must have come from Ontario Hydro or OPG, but the article doesn't seem to cite any source, or explain how they arrived at that number. By my own estimation we'd be lucky to have saved 10 MW in the residential and commercial sectors; my guess is that Hydro is lumping electric heating in with the rest and not factoring in degree-days, which are important because this was a comparatively warm week.
Or not. Who the hell knows what they do to come up with these PR figures. All I can say for certain is that looking at a typical load profile, you wouldn't even see the difference unless you knew exactly what to look for. So in summary I say, f*ck the planet. Earth Hour may have saved a few bucks for non-submetered landlords and condo boards, but it's sure as hell not going to prevent global warming. Of course, that's like saying it won't prevent Jesus from appearing in your breakfast burrito; it's not going to happen anyway.
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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here
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