EARTH HOUR: POWER COMPANY TNB RECORDS 550MW DROP

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- Although the Earth Hour campaign last Saturday resulted in electricity consumption dipping by 550 megawatt, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is not complaining.

Rather, TNB, the largest electricity utility company in Malaysia, accepts
the hour-long campaign which began at 8.30pm, was for a good cause.

The 550 megawatt is equivalent to 14 million fluorescent bulbs of 40 watt
each.

"While this minor fall in demand will result in a slight shaving of our
revenue, we accept that Earth Hour is for a good cause," said TNB
president/chief executive officer Che Khalib Mohamad Noh in a
statement here Monday.

He said, during the one-hour period of the energy conservation initiative,
TNB staff were extra vigilant, in the event of untoward operational snags.

"Everything went on very smoothly and we were able to respond to the
slightly lower demand, without any operational glitch.

"Demand peaked almost rapidly at 9.30pm, to follow the normal Saturday
evening demand pattern," added Che Khalib.

He said TNB was surprised by the support and appreciation demonstrated by
many of its customers on the worldwide Earth Hour campaign.

-- BERNAMA