power alternatives

Ride the wind with Sundance. The Sundance Resort has partnered with the Utah Power's Blue Sky Program and Utah Clean Energy Alliance to replace 100 percent of traditional power usage with clean, pollution-free wind power, enough to keep 2,312 tons of CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere each year. Sundance Resort issued a challenge to the surrounding community, asking they match the Sundance commitment and the community responded by doubling the purchase. Working together, the Sundance Resort and Sundance community members have offset a total of 2,733 tons of C02 from the atmosphere.

 

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.

What It Powers

The amount of wind power we purchase is just a little more than the amount of power that’s required to operate Ray’s Lift year-round. That’s why many of the materials carry the ’Ride the Wind’ slogan.

How It Works

We buy wind energy from a wind farm, which is in another state. We don’t have a wind turbine on our property, and it’s not feasible to have a power line from the wind farm directly to Ray’s Lift. So, instead, the energy we purchase is sent into the western regional power grid, which supplies power to Utah and across the west. So while the wind power we buy might not come directly to us, it does replace the same amount of power generated from coal or other traditional sources in our power supply.

Why We Buy Wind

Generating electricity from traditional sources such as coal and oil is one of the nation’s leading causes of industrial pollution. And the carbon dioxide that’s released when electricity is generated is a major cause of global warming. Wind power, on the other hand, is pollution-free, and doesn’t release any carbon dioxide. It also uses about 500 times less water than producing energy from coal.

Costs and Benefits

Wind power is more expensive than traditional power sources. Each month, there is a small additional charge on our power bill. 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 Challenge

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.