Fortis Alberta is once again offering Earth Hour grants to help municipalities create energy efficiencies in their communities.
 
Last year 25 communities entered the challenge with the Village of Alix reducing its energy consumption by 18 and a half per cent, earning them a grant worth $25 hundred dollars.
 
Corporate Communications Advisor Natasha Russell says the goal is to encourage people and businesses to be mindful of the power they use and look for ways to reduce energy “we encourage our communities who participate to fill in the application form, and then get their communities engaged in what they are going to do the hour March 25th to conserve power. And what we do is we compare the hour on the 25th to the previous Saturday which is March 18th during the same hour and the communities with the lowest electricity consumption will be awarded”.
 
Grants will be awarded for first, second and third place with the application deadline set for March 13.

Russell adds it's the little things that can make a big difference “things like turning off the lights when you’re not using them, turning off the television, powering down the computer, your cellphone – we talk about phantom energy so that’s the plug in for your cellphone is in but you’re not actually using any of the energy for your phone, plug it out if you’re not actually using it”.
 
For more information and how to apply visit FortisAlberta