A survey from B-C Hydro suggests many British Columbians are more wedded to their smartphones than their spouses. The survey says one-quarter of the 400 people questioned would rather skip contact with their partner for a day than go without their phone for the same period — and that number rises to one-third of respondents for couples over age 55. Data also reveals 20 per cent of young people would give up a day’s pay just to hang onto their phone and 50 per cent of us check our device within minutes of waking. Hydro says the survey illustrates B-C’s obsession with personal devices and, although each gadget only uses a small amount of power — when all uses are combined, the amount of electricity needed for small electronics has skyrocketed 150 per cent in less than 30 years.