Super Bowl Sunday sees electricity use spike in lead to kick-off in B.C.

VANCOUVER – BC Hydro is urging customers to limit their power usage on Super Bowl Sunday, as electricity use often spikes in the hours before kick-off.

The utility says power use typically starts to ramp up at about 11 a.m. on the day of the big game as people begin preparing food for parties.

Over the past four years, BC Hydro says that increase has added up to about eight per cent over a typical Sunday — roughly equivalent to cooking 2.4 million frozen pizzas.

It says that once kick-off happens, power use is back down to about the level of an average Sunday, partially due to what the utility calls "collective watching."

Other factors include people forgoing other energy-consuming activities, such as doing laundry or washing dishes.

To increase efficiency on Super Bowl Sunday, BC Hydro is asking customers to forgo pre-heating the oven, use smaller appliances and skip the heat-dry option on the dishwasher.