The results of the 2011 Earth Hour event show that British Columbian’s have definitely become more aware of power conservation.

This years participation in the world’s fifth annual “Earth Hour” which took place in British Columbia on March 26, 2011 between 8:30pm to 9:30pm resulted in almost twice the electricity savings as last year across the province.

BC Hydro which is onto its forth year of supporting the event in BC announced that British Columbian’s saved 117 megawatt hours of electricity and reduced the provincial electricity load by 1.8% during Earth Hour in 2011.

This was almost double the 64 megawatt hours of electricity saved in 2010 and resulted in an additional 73% reduction in the provincial electricity load from 1.04% in 2010 to 1.8% in 2011.

“We’re delighted to see the significant increase in electricity savings over last year which we believe are a result of the increased leadership and commitment of both businesses and residences,” said Lisa Coltart, Executive Director of Power Smart and Customer Care.

The Earth Hour event shows that British Columbians can make a difference with energy conservation with simple efforts. One of the main reasons for the increase in savings this year is believed to be from increased participation by commercial and industrial BC Hydro customers in BC.

“Think about it: if British Columbians who participated this year implemented the same conservation measures one hour every day for the whole year, the combined savings would power close to 4,000 homes for an entire year,” added Coltart.

The annual global power conservation event is hosted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 to encourage individuals to fight against climate change by turning off their lights for 1 hour around the world during the event each year. British Columbia first joined the event in 2008.

The British Columbia community that achieved the highest reduction in power consumption during Earth Hour 2011 was Pitt Meadows with 5.70% in power reduction savings. Tumbler Ridge was right behind in second place with 4.95%, followed thereafter by Kitimat and Whistler, both with a 4.35% power savings.

The table below shows the total Earth Hour power consumption reductions across BC communities in 2011.

Earth Hour 2011 – Electricity Savings Results for BC Communities:

“We’re definitely pleased with the results,” said BC Hydro spokeswoman Simi Heer. “For us, this is primarily a symbolic, awareness building event. There was more buzz, excitement and people were curious about what they could do to participate.”

Each year, BC Hydro encourages people to join Earth Hour as a way to promote energy conservation awareness by demonstrating behavior changes that can lower energy consumption. This is in an effort to support the province’s fight against climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy conservation.

British Columbia is growing, which means that the demand for electricity is also increasing. In the next 20 years, BC Hydro estimates that demand for electricity will grow by 40% in the province. The provincial government has mandated that at least 66% of BC Hydro’s incremental electricity needs in the province must be met through efficiency and conservation by 2020.

According to a recent BC Hydro press release:

In the last three years alone, BC Hydro’s Power Smart programs have saved close to 2,300 gigawatt hours of electricity – enough to power 200,000 homes annually. In addition to conservation, BC Hydro will meet demand and continue to ensure a clean, reliable supply of energy by investing now in the projects that are needed to keep the lights on in our province for the next 50 years.

“We encourage our customers to think about how to live a little bit of Earth Hour every day and we will continue to support them with Power Smart tools and resources to help achieve this goal,” added Coltart.

This year, the world’s fifth annual “Earth Hour” took place in British Columbia on March 26, 2011 between 8:30pm to 9:30pm.

The annual global event is hosted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to encourage individuals to fight against climate change by turning off their lights for 1 hour around the world during the event each year.

As we await BC Hydro to report on the 2011 electricity savings for this year’s Earth Hour on March 26th, let’s take a look at how British Columbia faired in 2010.

Last year, Earth Hour took place on March 27, 2010 from 8:30 to 9:30 PM across BC. It was the third year that BC Hydro sponsored the event across the province.

In 2010, the total electricity load across the province dropped by 1.04%, which saved 64.6 megawatt hours of electricity during the one hour span. This translates into approximately 1.4 million lights being turned off.

The British Columbia community that achieved the highest reduction in power consumption during Earth Hour 2010 was Burns Lake with a 7% power savings according to BC Hydro.

The table below shows the total Earth Hour power consumption reductions across BC communities in 2010.

Earth Hour 2010 – Electricity Savings Results for BC Communities:

Earth Hour 2010 was the most successful Earth Hour ever, reaching 1.3 billion people worldwide. A record 138 countries and territories across the globe united making it the largest voluntary action ever witnessed. In 2010 over 10 million Canadians took part in all provinces and territories, turning out the lights in over 300 cities and towns.

BC Hydro encourages people to join Earth Hour to promote energy conservation awareness by demonstrating behavior changes that lower energy consumption and support the province’s fight against climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy conservation.

In 2009, British Columbia achieved a 1.1% reduction in the overall electricity load during Earth Hour while in 2008, there was a 2% reduction.

According to BC Hydro, “If British Columbians implemented the same conservation measures (as they did in 2010) for just one hour every evening, the combined savings would be enough to power close to 2,200 homes for an entire year.”

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its Housing Forecast Update for the first quarter of 2011 today stating that the BC housing market is returning to a normal position after several years of volatility.

The BCREA is forecasting that Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sales for British Columbia are expected to increase by 8.0% to 80,900 units in 2011 from the 74,640 units sold in 2010.

They are also predicting a further 4% increase in BC home sales in 2012, rising to 83,950 units from the expected 80,900 units in 2011.

“Employment and population growth will fuel consumer demand over the next two years. However, higher mortgage interest rates and tighter credit conditions for low equity home buyers will limit home sales to below the ten-year average of 87,600 units,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist.

For 2011, the BCREA is forecasting that the average MLS residential price will increase by 2.3% to $517,000, but remain relatively unchanged in 2012, declining by just 0.4% to $515,400 in British Columbia.

“Regional market differences continue in the province, with Vancouver trending into a seller’s market, while the Okanagan, Kootenay and Kamloops markets trend from a buyer’s market toward balanced conditions,” said Muir.

There are currently eleven (11) member boards represented by the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) including:

• Victoria – VREB
• Vancouver Island – VIREB
• Powell River Sunshine Coast – PRSCREB
• Greater Vancouver – REBGV
• Fraser Valley – FVREB
• Chilliwack and District – CADREB
• Kamloops and District
• Okanagan Mainline – OMREB
• South Okanagan – SOREB
• Kootenay – KREB
• BC Northern – BCNREB

The Northern Lights Real Estate Board (NLREB) amalgamated with the South Okanagan Real Estate Board (SOREB) on January 1, 2011. Data for SOREB in the table below includes transaction data from the former NLREB.

2011 BCREA – MLS Housing Sales Forecast for British Columbia:

“Regional market differences continue in the province, with Vancouver trending into a seller’s market, while the Okanagan, Kootenay and Kamloops markets trend from a buyer’s market toward balanced conditions,” said Muir.

“Total active residential listings in the province declined 14 per cent since last spring. However, the advances during the first two quarters of 2011,” added Muir.

2011 BCREA Q1 – MLS Home Sales and Price Forecast Summary:

• Victoria – VREB home sales are forecast to rise by 7.0% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 0.7%.
• Vancouver Island – VIREB home sales are forecast to rise by 3.8% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 0.6%.
• Powell River Sunshine Coast – PRSCREB home sales are forecast to Rise by 11.0% in 2011 with prices remaining stable.
• Greater Vancouver – REBGV home sales are forecast to rise by 11.0% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 2.4%.
• Fraser Valley – FVREB home sales are forecast to rise by 8.0% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 0.8%.
• Chilliwack and District – CADREB home sales are forecast to rise by 6.5% in 2011 with prices expected to decrease by 1.0%.
• Kamloops and District – home sales are forecast to rise by 6.1% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 0.4%.
• Okanagan Mainline – OMREB home sales are forecast to rise by 8.8% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 0.4%.
• South Okanagan – SOREB home sales are forecast to rise by 4.6% in 2011 with prices expected to decrease by 4.9%.
• Kootenay – KREB home sales are forecast to rise by 7.8% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 0.5%.
• BC Northern – BCNREB home sales are forecast to rise by 4.1% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 0.5%.
• BC Total – home sales are forecast to rise by 8.4% in 2011 with prices expected to increase by 2.3%.

BC Assessment released their 2011 Assessment Roll figures on January 4, 2011.

The assessments are based on a market value approach with a valuation date of July 1, 2010. The figures are based on sales in a property owner’s area from January 1, 2010 to October 31, 2010.

The following table shows the estimated percentage of residential market movement (% Gain/Loss) between the 2011 Assessment Roll and the 2010 Assessment Roll for every city, municipality, and jurisdiction in the province of British Columbia, Canada.

2011 BC Assessment – Estimated % Market Movement for BC Cities:

According to BC Assessment:

• For the first time in British Columbia’s history, the value of all real estate on the annual provincial assessment roll has surpassed $1.0 trillion.
• The actual (total) value of the 2011 assessment roll is $1,043,127,129,141 a increase of eight per cent over the 2010 roll total value of $970 billion.
• BC Assessment is sending 2,066,261 assessment notices to British Columbia property owners, an increase of 5.5 per cent from last year’s total of 1,957,440. (Note: Several properties have multiple owners who may each receive an assessment notice.)

BC Assessment released their 2010 Assessment Roll figures on January 4, 2010.

The assessments are based on a market value approach with a valuation date of July 1, 2009. The figures are based on sales in a property owner’s area from January 1, 2009 to October 31, 2009.

The following table shows the estimated percentage of residential market movement between the 2010 Assessment Roll and the 2009 Assessment Roll for every city, municipality, and jurisdiction in the province of British Columbia, Canada.

2010 BC Assessment – Estimated % Market Movement:

According to BC Assessment:

• The total value of the 2010 Assessment Roll is $969 billion, an increase of 1.7 per cent over the 2009 Roll total value of $953 billion.
• 1,883,669 properties were valued for the 2010 Roll, compared to 1,856,687 on the 2009 revised Roll.
• BC Assessment sent out 1,957,400 assessment notices to British Columbia property owners, a slight increase from last year’s total of 1,920,826. (Several properties have multiple owners who may each receive an assessment notice.)
• In British Columbia, 87.6 per cent per cent of all properties are classified with some residential component.