Editor’s Note: With this post, I’m happy to introduce Hallie McClave, a writer here at Flex Your Power. Hallie will be contributing posts on the Power Plug and stories for e-Newswire, Flex Your Power’s e-mail newsletter.

On Saturday, October 20, 2007, Lights Out San Francisco, a new organization run by Nate Tyler, is asking San Franciscans to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour, from 8 - 9 p.m.

Lights Out was inspired by a similar event recently held in Sydney, Australia, called Earth Hour. On that night, March 31, Tyler was eating dinner in a restaurant on Sydney’s harbor when the light’s went out and the iconic Sydney Opera House went black. More than 2 million people participated. The one hour of lights out meant that 24.86 tons of carbon dioxide were not released into the air — the equivalent of taking 48,613 cars off the road for one hour.

In San Francisco, managers of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, as well as the Bay Bridge and the TransAmerica building have agreed to participate by turning off building lights and the lights illuminating the bridge towers. If you’re out on the town on Saturday night, you can also expect candlelight dinners in some restaurants, as owners and managers do their part.

As part of the event, Pacific Gas and Electric Company donated 100,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs for a citywide giveaway. The utility will also monitor the conservation effort to determine how much energy is actually saved by the hour-long, voluntary brownout.

Organizers estimate that Lights Out could save the city as much as 15% of the average energy consumed on a typical Saturday night. Energy savings aside, the ultimate goal of the brownout is to heighten awareness about energy conservation with the hope of decreasing future energy consumption in San Francisco.