MANILA, Philippines — Earth Hour 2023 held last Saturday saved a total of 62.69 megawatts of electricity nationwide, the Department of Energy said in a statement on Monday.
The DOE reported that a total of 62.69 MW of power was saved for the entire country during the one-hour switch-off, starting at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The largest savings was 33.29 MW in Luzon, followed by 20.5 MW in Mindanao and 8.9 MW in the Visayas.
“This also illustrates how purposeful behavior could achieve something big and worthy,” the DOE said.
The total power saved this year is lower than 65.32 MW in 2022 and 73.01 MW in 2021.
On Saturday, a number of Filipinos turned their lights off for an hour between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Earth Hour is an annual symbolic lights-out event that started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 to work together on the planet’s biggest environmental challenges.
The DOE also enjoined the public to continue energy conservation measures at home at work by switching off non-essential lights to choosing more energy-efficient appliances, equipment, and machines.
“These are simple yet valuable actions that we can do easily not only for our planet but more especially during periods of high demand such as this summer season,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.