Customers being asked to turn off lights for one hour on Saturday night
VAUGHAN, ON – In addition to encouraging its customers to turn off their lights this Saturday in support of Earth Hour, PowerStream, the local electrical distribution company for more than 315,000 businesses and homeowners in York Region and Simcoe County, is also promoting activities for those who may not want to be left totally in the dark during this global event.

Several community events are being sponsored by the utility during the evening including the Barrie Earth Hour Music Festival at 6:00 pm and the 2nd Annual Woodbridge Lantern Walk at 8:30 pm. Both events are being offered free to the public and feature refreshments, music, conservation ideas, guest speakers and much more. PowerStream is also providing prizes this week for an Earth Hour sign-up program being executed through the Town of Markham’s public libraries.

Earth Hour, a World Wildlife Fund initiative which encourages individuals and businesses around the world to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour, is scheduled this year for Saturday March 28 from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

“We encourage all our customers to take part in Earth Hour by turning off their lights at the designated time and if interested, joining in on one of the events we are sponsoring,” said Brian Bentz, President and CEO of PowerStream. “It is our hope that participation in Earth Hour will serve as a catalyst to promote further efforts in conservation and protecting the environment.”

In addition to sponsoring the Earth Hour community events, PowerStream will also be demonstrating its support and commitment by powering down the lighting at its Vaughan and Barrie office locations from 8:30 – 9:30 p.m.

Last year, PowerStream customers saved collectively 57,170 kilowatt-hours of electricity during Earth Hour, enough to power 2,382 average-size homes for one day.

For more information on the Barrie Earth Hour Music Festival, please visit www.earthhourbarrie.com . Information on the 2nd Annual Woodbridge Lantern Walk is available at http://www.city.vaughan.on.ca/environment/earth_hour.cfm .

About PowerStream
PowerStream Inc. is the second largest municipally-owned electricity distribution company in Ontario, providing service to more than 315,000 residential and business customers in Alliston, Aurora, Barrie, Beeton, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Markham, Penetanguishene, Richmond Hill, Thornton, Tottenham and Vaughan. It is an incorporated entity, jointly owned by the municipalities of Barrie, Markham and Vaughan.

About Earth Hour
Earth Hour was first celebrated two years ago in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million people and thousands of businesses turned out their lights, allowing the message about climate change to
shine brightly. In March 2008 more then 400 cities, thousands of businesses and over 50 million
people around the world turned off their lights for one hour to demonstrate their commitment to slowing the effects of climate change This year, the goals for Earth hour are bigger as the stakes are higher. Already 538 towns and cities in 75 countries have agreed to take part including most municipalities within PowerStream’s service territory.