Kingston has won the inaugural Count Me In! Community Challenge by reducing its energy usage by 7.8 per cent on Friday, Aug. 14 — the anniversary of the 2003 North American blackout. Kingston and Sioux Lookout won top honours amongst the 83 participating Ontario municipalities and will receive "The Woodstock Cup" to mark its success as Ontario's top energy-save. The City of Woodstock initiated the Blackout Day Challenge. The Count Me In! Challenge measured the use of energy in a community during a 12-hour period Aug. 14 and compared it to its use on Aug. 13. "Friday was one hot day, too, so this achievement truly demonstrates our community's real will to conserve," says Ken Mundell, Utilities Kingston's Conservation & Demand Management Advisor. Mundell says the win was achieved through the combined and cooperative efforts of Kingston's larger institutions - including the City and Kingston General and Hotel Dieu Hospitals - and, of course, to energy-concious Kingstonians. Sioux Lookout won for having the largest number of Count Me In! pledges per capita. Kingstonians can still take the pledge at Count Me In.