4.1. Electricity consumption before and during DST
Currently, DST is observed between the end of March and the end of October in Turkey. In order to see the effects of DST, the hourly average electricity consumption during the last four weeks before the transition to DST is compared to the hourly average electricity use during the first four weeks after the transition. Fig. 3 shows this comparison of hourly average electricity use in March and April 2007. Hourly electricity data was obtained from the National Dispatch Center [29]. In this transition time, peak demand shifted two hours from 19:00 to 21:00 while dropping 473.0 MW (2%). Total daily saving was 6800.0 MWh (1.35%) on average. Not only did the peak electrical demand reduce significantly, but also electricity use decreased considerably in the evening hours too, as shown between 16:00 and 21:00 in Fig. 3. Since the Sun rises before 6:30 even in westernmost Turkey in March, electricity use changed marginally in the morning hours.