THE Hunter took a small but significant step during Earth Hour on a journey towards achieving long-term energy conservation targets, Climate Cam data shows.



Newcastle's energy consumption dropped from 185 megawatt hours between 7pm and 8pm to 167.6 megawatt hours between 8pm and 9pm, a saving of 17.4 megawatt hours.

Across the region, power consumption dropped from 531.01 megawatt hours to 508.4 megawatt hours, a 4.3 per cent reduction during Earth Hour.

But the news was not all positive.

Newcastle City Council's energy and resource manager Peter Dormand said he was "surprised" to learn that power consumption slightly increased during Earth Hour in some of the city's 15 Climate Cam zones.

"This needs to take into account the residential and industrial mix of the zone," he said.

"The slight increase in some zones indicates that even if the lights are out there can be a lot of other appliances consuming energy.

"The reality is that we need to work a lot harder at this."

The saving represents 24 tonnes of carbon dioxide that will not be emitted into the atmosphere.

Electricity consumption at 10 Port Stephens Council operated properties dropped by an average 37.35 per cent during Earth Hour.

Tomaree Aquatic Centre cut its power use by a 99.92 per cent, Lakeside Leisure Centre by 86.87 per cent and Halifax Holiday Park by 57.51 per cent.

Port Stephens Council's Duncan Jinks said Earth Hour allowed authorities to see how much energy was used after-hours.