Scilly switch-off short of target

Organisers had hoped to see consumption cut by 15%

Organisers of an energy switch-off on the Isles of Scilly achieved only a 1% drop in power usage but they insist that the experiment was a success.

Residents were asked not to use electrical items for 24 hours on Tuesday in the hope that local demand could be cut by 15%.

In fact, usage fell by just 1.2% across the various islands.

One school did cut its consumption by 8.3% and a test family managed to slash its usage by 50.3%.

'Horrendous weather'

One of the organisers, Dr Matt Prescott, said "E-day" was undermined by bad weather but usage still dropped below the UK average.

"UK usage was up by 1.7% but it fell in Scilly by 1.2%. That doesn't sound like a lot but the two are usually the same, so yesterday [Tuesday] was a 3% difference," he said.

"The weather was horrendous yesterday compared to the day before so we were really fighting the conditions, and normally electric use tends to go up on a Tuesday so we were fighting the general trend and the weather."

Two thousand people live on the five inhabited islands that make up the Isles of Scilly off the Cornish coast.

Organisers wanted to show that cutting fuel bills and electrical consumption could be easily achieved.

Baking scones

The Moore family managed to cut their electricity consumption by 50.3%. They had an energy monitor put in their home to show how much electricity they were using at any moment.

Stuart Moore said the monitor made the family recognise that each bit of electricity, from turning on a light to having a leisurely shower, cost money.

"It makes people aware of consumption, which is a good thing," he said.

E-day organisers say a typical family can reduce its electricity demand by 10% to 20% when it is able to see how much electricity it is using in real time.

The Five Islands School reduced its usage by 8.3% - despite baking scones.

In the winter, the school usually uses about 30kW of electricity at any one moment - which is the same as leaving about 30 kettles switched on.

The Isles of Scilly were connected to the national grid as recently as 1998 and electricity for its inhabitants comes via Cornwall by one undersea cable.