Switching off lights worldwide does more harm than good - expert.

Switching off lights worldwide does more harm than good - expert. (Tass).

Switching off the lights for the environmental campaign "Earth Hour" is doing more harm than good, because it makes electricity more expensive, according to professor of the department of nuclear and thermal power plants of the Institute of Power Engineering of the Tomsk Polytechnic University Valery Litvak, quoted by the university’s press service.

"Earth Hour" is an annual international environmental campaign of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), aimed at drawing attention to the problem of preserving the planet's resources. At the same time for one hour people around the world switch off the lights, and the buildings - symbols of certain countries - switch off exterior decorative lighting.

"Earth Hour" is the most popular campaign in the human history. In 2015 more than 2 bln people from 172 countries participated in the event, including 20 mln Russians.

Saving energy ends up more expensive

"This event, in my opinion, based on the conviction "switched off the lights - done something good". In fact - this is not the case. All people in the power industry know that. Electrical power systems work well with constant load. The more constant the load schedule, the more cost efficient production of power," the university’s press service quoted the scientist.

According to him, rapid decline of turbine load occurs during a power outage. Power system will have to adapt to this new regime - to reduce the production of electricity. If the drop is significant, only hydroelectric power stations will be able to pick up the process, all the other stations simply will not be able to cope with the drop.

"But this is not all - because in an hour the light everywhere will be turned on. Stations will need to increase the load. Meanwhile, it is difficult to do at nuclear power plants, thermal power plants pick it up but the pace is not very fast. Again, the entire burden falls on hydroelectric power stations.

So, we first unloaded generators and now load them again. To put it mildly, it is very stressful for the whole power complex. Hooking up turbo-generator into electrical network could be compared to such a complex process as childbirth," the professor said.

Therefore, according to him, there will be more harm than good from power outage around the world. "We just need to train ourselves to use energy more prudently. Turn off the lights leaving the house, not boiling a full kettle for just two cups of tea, not running washing machine for a pair of socks," Litvak said. Read the full story here.

Swedish town refuses to turn lights off to protect women from rape attacks. #Earthhour https://t.co/QklKiFz2bg

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) March 19, 2016

Ontario’s skyrocketing electricity prices endanger domestic manufacturing.

Ontario’s skyrocketing electricity prices endanger domestic manufacturing. (GM). By Adam White.

As an advocate for some of Ontario’s largest manufacturers, we fear the province’s long-term electricity plan is placing too high a financial burden on industry.

Our manufacturers are currently paying excessively high electricity rates for power the system doesn’t need; this surplus energy is then sold to our competitors in neighbouring jurisdictions (Quebec, New York, Michigan, Illinois) for a heavily discounted price. The math just doesn’t make sense.

This trend results in two outcomes. They can close, further opening the door to suppliers south of the border. Or they can move to the United States or Mexico.

Electricity costs in Ontario are unlikely to ease.The cost, in multiple billions, will be borne by Ontario electricity customers.

As policy-makers in Ontario and elsewhere turn their attention to the energy sector, we need to make sure that they keep the interests of Canadians in mind.Read the full story here.

Adam White is the President of the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario