alternative power

Ride the wind with Sundance. Sundance Resort partners with Utah Power's Blue Sky Program and Utah Clean Energy Alliance to purchase enough Renewable Energy Credits (REC) to offset 100 percent of the resort's power usage.  This purchase eliminates 2,312 tons of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere each year. The surrounding Sundance community responded by also purchasing offsets. Working together, the Sundance Resort and Sundance community members are offsetting a total of 2,733 tons of C02 each year.

 

Sundance’s Wind Power Purchase

What We’re Buying

We are buying 192,700 kilowatt hours (kWh) of wind-generated electricity each month, or 2,312,400 kilowatt hours annually, through Utah Power’s Blue Sky program. This represents 100 percent of the resort’s total electricity use.

 

How It Works

We buy wind energy from wind farms in neighboring states. Wind is economical in locations where the average wind speed is at least 14 mph. Although a single wind turbine can produce a usable amount of electricity, most wind power is produced at wind farms where large turbines are grouped together at a site.

Electricity is generated when the wind blows strong enough to spin turbines (windmills) mounted on tall towers. Wind is now the fastest-growing renewable energy resource in the world, and it is pollution free. Wind-generated electricity does not create smog, acid rain or other forms of air and water pollution. Wind power does not contribute to global warming.

 

Why We Buy Wind

Renewable energy has a much lower impact on the environment than traditional methods of electricity generation. It produces lower levels of air pollutants, waste water, smog and acid rain, and it can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy can be replenished and often comes from local sources, which can provide additional employment.

 

Costs and Benefits

Wind power is more expensive than traditional power sources, but we think the environmental benefits far outweigh the costs. For example, the amount of wind we purchase each year keeps 2,312 tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide out of the air. That’s equivalent to not driving a car over 4,954,317 miles, taking 396 cars off the road for a year or planting 908 acres of trees.

 

The Sundance Community

Thanks to the Sundance Community, 350 kilowatt hour blocks per month are being purchased by Sundance residents. That translates to 420 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) being offset, the equivalent of not driving 900,000 miles, planting 165 acres of trees, and taking 72 cars off of the road for a full year.