Our ski resorts are now 100% wind powered…almost
Do you have any idea what it means to be wind powered? I visualized many big wind turbines sitting on top of the ski mountains. We get enough wind sometimes that it could work! Can you see wind turbines all across the top of the Ten Mile Range? (The Ten Mile Range is pictured below.) It makes me shudder to think about it, but at the same time, we could generate a lot of electricity! 
Seriously, the ski areas are working very hard to make sure that everyone knows that they are now using clean, natural resources as a source of electricity.
How do they go about using the wind? Essentially, they buy the wind power to replace what they are using. There are now companies that act as brokers for people who want to buy wind energy credits. The company Vail Resorts uses is Renewable Choice Energy, based in Boulder, Colorado. Their job is to connect the wind power producers with the wind power consumers, while at the same time educating and developing more potential customers. 
Vail Resorts produced a short video clip announcing their new program.
Here is a simple explanation of how it works: The ski areas still get their power from the power company and they still pay their regular utility bill. In addition, they pay a relatively small amount monthly or yearly to replace the electricity they used from the national power grid with electricity produced by wind farms. The more wind powered electricity that feeds into the grid, the less fossil fuel generated electricity is needed. It is something very easy for an individual consumer like you or me to do ourselves.
It can be compared to paying extra for organic food. You are still eating food, it just is better for you. In this case, instead of avoiding hormones and insecticides, you are avoiding nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions, the major causes of air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. Renewable Choice Energy charges $15 a month for a family and $5 a month for an individual. The money is used to help build more wind farms and to subsidize the clean and green production of wind energy. It helps to balance out the government’s subsidies of the big oil companies just a little bit. (That could be considered a politcal statement, but I don’t apologize for it!)
www.RenewableEnergy.com has a Frequently Asked Questions section on the website, and I found it very helpful to explain quickly what it all means. 
Breckenridge and Keystone are using 100% wind power for the ski resorts plus all the company stores and buildings, as do their sister resorts and the rest of the parent company, Vail Resorts. Copper Mountain is also completely wind powered through renewable energy certificates purchased from 3 Phases Energy. Vail Resorts is putting their money where their mouth is by offering a program called Ski with the Wind. They provide a free lift ticket when a family signs up for a year with Renewable Choice Energy. If you don’t ski, you can choose a $50 gift card from Whole Foods instead. Whole Foods uses wind energy for all their stores, distribution centers and facilities and is the largest Fortune 500 Company to do so.
In Summit County, Arapahoe Basin also jumped on the bandwagon with some innovative environmental practices. They replace 489,250 kWh of electricity a year with renewable energy certificates, enough to power the new Snow Plume Refuge and their snowmaking efforts. They are not 100% wind powered yet, but do other things to boost their customer and employee’s environmental conciousness. As one example, they allow their employees to donate pre-tax dollars from their paychecks to an environmental fund, and the ski resort matches the donations dollar for dollar. An employee committee chooses one or more local, non-profit environmental groups to receive the funds each year. A Basin also suggests visiting www.atmosclear.org for ways to reduce emissions through simple lifestyle changes.
You can see that Summit County ski resorts recognize the impact that global warming will have on the ski business. As high in elevation as we are, it is predicted that we will still have snow when others don’t, but the impact will still be huge to our economy as well as our environment. If we can each have the commitment that the ski resorts do, this planet just might last a little bit longer than it would otherwise.
This video shows how some of the Indian Reservations are putting wind farms on their reservations.
Read more on wind power in New Mexico by my Albuquerque Realtor friend Ashley Drake Gephart.
Wind turbine photo courtesy of www.publicdomainpictures.net
August 10th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Joanne, This is absolutely amazing. There are so many ways we can help our environment and it sounds like Summit County is using its resources to contribute to the cause.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Mana, Summit County is very “green” with a great recycling center and good participation in the local www.freecycle.org program. We know how good we have it here and we don’t want to lose it!
August 12th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Joanne, this is an amazing article! I had no idea that Colorado was using wind power for their resort areas. You comment about not wanting to lose what you have…excellent! Summit County sounds like they are on the ball for GREEN Solutions.
August 12th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
This has always been an environmentally conscious county. With so much natural beauty, who wouldn’t be? Thanks for stopping by Stephanie!
August 12th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Joanne, This a wonderful story, it’s so good to see so many positive changes when it comes to saving energy and protecting our enviroment.
We’ve got a “wind farm” ourselves in the desert heading to Palm Springs, the north end of town is always windy.
August 12th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
They are building more of them every day, and that is a good thing! There is also one near the Wyoming border. They are not without controversy though. The one near Cape Cod, in the ocean is getting a lot of resistance from homeowers who don’t want it spoiling their view, and some people say they are noisy.
August 13th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
JoAnne - I have seen the wind farms in California - absolutely amazing! You have explained the benefits wonderfully and the program to choose renewable energy seems very cost effective.
I hope they find a better place than “on top” of the mountains to place the turbines. It would seem the state would want to preserve the look of the mountain ranges there. It will be interesting to see what the future hods for renewable energy.
August 14th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
I had never seen a wind farm until last spring - wow they are amazing and I often have wondered why more communities have not captured this from of energy - good for your community for taking the steps to go green
August 16th, 2007 at 7:24 am
That is fantastic way to conserve energy. Great article are you ready for skiing to begin ?
August 16th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Paula, they won’t be putting them on top of the mountains. That was just my first reaction when I heard that they would be wind powered. They all seem to be out on the windy plains.
Thesa, I have only seen the wind farm near the Wyoming border, but it is cool that there is so much demand that they have to build more!
Missy, We are about 2 months away from the first ski areas opening and I am ready!! I love summer, but once it is gone, I am ready for skiing.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Joanne - That is so progressive - we don’t have wind here but what a great way to harness our sustainable resources for good - love hearing about Colorado’s leadership in Eco-friendly solutions. Just think - ski season’s around the corner:-)
September 14th, 2007 at 9:44 am
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October 1st, 2007 at 3:14 pm
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October 1st, 2007 at 3:45 pm
[…] Our ski resorts are now 100% wind powered (almost) - Joanne Hanson […]
October 14th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
[…] posts, because I think that is why people read this blog. A few weeks ago I wrote about the Summit County ski areas using wind power to run ski lifts, and I had planned another during hiking season called “Leave no Trace.” I never did […]
October 28th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
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February 26th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
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August 8th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
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November 9th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Our National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents recently presented a seminar for our members on Green Building. (So we would be better able to help our home buying clients.)
We discussed a lot of different “green” ideas but the wind powered ski resorts idea is new to me!
November 9th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Hi Jon, the town of Frisco now requires that new construction be built green, and the county is revising their building codes to incorporate it.
If you don’t have your “eco-broker” designation yet, it is worth while getting it. I am finishing up the last class for it and should have it done later this week.
Thanks for visiting!