Don't Forget to Move Clocks Forward

Even though winter hasn't made much of a presence in Lake Tahoe this year, it's time once again for the annual spring ritual of daylight savings time. Sunday, March 9 at 2 a.m. is the official time charge where people are to move their clocks forward one hour.

The time change dates from the Industrial Revolution, when workers' shifts and transportation schedules depended on having daylight to operate. The time shift is also traditionally thought to boost energy savings by reducing reliance on electricity for artificial light. Saving energy was Congress's intent in 2005 when it moved Daylight Saving Time from April to March, expecting a 1 percent drop in US consumption. (Congress does set a uniform time to begin and end Daylight Saving Time, for states that are making the shift.)

Energy researchers are starting to dispute that energy-saving claim. According to a 2007 study by the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley, Calif., households that on standard time would use lights longer in the evening ended up shifting their use to other times of day while on Daylight Saving Time (such as morning, when it's dark but people are up).