550MW dip in power use for Earth Hour

Comment: TNB CEO claims the energy dip was equivalent to 14 million 40-watt fluorescent bulbs, but for how long? Just an hour?

PETALING JAYA: Electricity consumption dipped by some 550MW during Earth Hour on Saturday.

This, said Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh, was equivalent to the consumption of about 14 million 40-watt fluorescent bulbs.

“Everything went smoothly and we were able to respond to the slightly lower demand without any operational glitches,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

He was commenting on the hour-long lights-out campaign to create awareness on the need to combat global warming.

However, Che Khalib added that demand picked up rapidly at 9.30pm to follow the normal Saturday night pattern.

Many Malaysians joined the annual campaign, which began in Sydney in 2007, by switching off their lights for an hour from 8.30pm.