Earth Hour will darken the planet tonight and Prince George people are being urged to make their global contributions to the symbolic event by minimizing their electricity usage from 8:30-9:30 p.m.

That means turning off all unnecessary lights and pulling the plug on unused electronic equipment.

Earth Day, an event organized annually by the World Wildlife Fund, started in 2007 in Sydney,Australia to shed light on the effects of climate change. According to BC Hydro, Earth Hour 2012 participants in B.C. managed a provincewide drop of 1.67 per cent, enough power to light up nine million 12.5-watt LED light bulbs. Revelstoke led the way for the rest of the province, achieving a 12.1 per cent reduction.

The College of New Caledonia is already setting the bar for Prince George. The college is upgrading its main electrical system and is shutting off its power for the entire weekend, which will close the college campus until 6 a.m. Monday.

During the power outage, CNC students and employees will not be allowed in the main building and they will have no access to their email accounts, Internet connections or college phones. All of CNC's regional campuses in Burns Lake, Fort St. James, Quesnel, Mackenzie, Vanderhoof will also be without email, Internet and voice mail services.