City Encourages Energy Conservation

The City of St. John's is supporting Newfoundland Power's call for energy conservation by shutting down all decorative lighting in Bowring Park, Bannerman Park, City Hall and the Promenade on Water Street West. While shutting off the Christmas lights for most homes and businesses is as simple as pulling a plug or hitting a light switch, the lights in these areas require an electrician to disconnect them. Given the late notice by Newfoundland Power of the rolling blackouts yesterday, this work was not able to be completed last night, but will be completed by City electrical staff today.

The City also has curtailment agreements with Newfoundland Power and all water and wastewater treatment plants are currently running on generators to help ease the load on the province's electrical grid.

The City has also asked staff to shut down all electrical devices and any lightning not required for security purposes at the end of the workday. The City of St. John's is a 24/7 operation and as such lighting is required at certain facilities, such as City Hall where our Access St. John's Citizen Call Centre is located and the Municipal Depot that carries out snowclearing operations around the clock at this time of year. Both the Depot and City Hall operate on generators when power outages occur to ensure we are able to continue to provide services to residents around the clock. 

The City would also like to encourage all residents to conserve power wherever possible.