In Short : A Colorado ski area has achieved a significant sustainability milestone as it progresses toward its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025. This achievement underscores the ski industry’s commitment to environmental responsibility. As climate change concerns continue to grow, businesses in various sectors, including the ski industry, are actively pursuing sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint and promote a greener future. This milestone reflects the industry’s dedication to environmental stewardship and its efforts to inspire others to adopt eco-friendly initiatives.
In Detail : Arapahoe Basin Ski Area just reached a massive milestone. After publicly making a pledge in 2018 to be carbon neutral by 2025, A-Basin says it is now two-thirds of the way to its goal.
“As of October, we will get 100% of the electricity that we use to run the ski area from renewable sources,” sustainability manager Mike Nathan said.
A-Basin receives any energy it doesn’t generate itself — like energy from its solar panels — from Xcel, whose grid runs on a mix of energy generated from both fossil fuels and renewable energy. To reach the 100% renewable energy mark, A-Basin has signed up for specific renewable energy programs offered by Xcel that result in more expensive energy bills than typical customers.
Anyone fully enrolled in these high-cost programs are powering their operations through 100% renewable energy since they are paying a premium associated with renewable energy production in Colorado, according to Xcel.
So while the electricity making its way into the ski area is the same as the energy being provided to the rest of the community through Xcel’s power lines, A-Basin has taken extra steps to invest in renewable energy for all of its electricity use.
“We use electricity to run just about every operation on the mountain,” Nathan said. “Obviously some vehicles still rely on fuel. Snowcats run on diesel. We have shuttle buses and some other vehicles that use gasoline, but pretty much all of our stationary assets like chairlifts, buildings, snowmaking equipment, water and wastewater treatment, and electric vehicle chargers, all that stuff runs — if not completely on electricity, then 80% to 90% on electricity.”
Nathan said the sustainability team at A-Basin saw how much the ski area relies on electricity for its daily operations and recognized there was a way for the ski area to mitigate its carbon emissions by close to 70% if it turned to renewable electricity options.
“This is the biggest chunk of our carbon emissions,” Nathan said. “By addressing it with 100% renewable electricity, we are two-thirds, if not more, of the way to reaching our goal.”
Through a partnership with Xcel Energy and many other community partners, A-Basin is now getting its renewable electricity from three main buckets.
A-Basin is receiving the largest portion of its renewable energy (46.4%) from Xcel Energy’s Renewable Connect Flex program, which the ski area enrolled in this year. The program sources renewable electricity generated by wind and solar from a blend of renewable electricity projects in Xcel Energy’s Colorado service territory.
Arapahoe Basin’s second-biggest slice (33.6%) of the renewable energy pie comes from Xcel Energy’s Certified Renewable Percentage, which is Xcel’s general grid mix, and includes Jack’s Solar Garden and on-site renewable energy sources at A-Basin. Jack’s Solar Garden in Longmont features agrivoltaics — the practice of utilizing a solar garden’s footprint to grow produce and raise livestock under and around the solar panels themselves.
In terms of on-site renewable energy sources, A-Basin currently has more than 30 kilowatts of photovoltaic solar capacity and is commitment to adding solar panels to any feasible building project.
Jack’s Solar Garden contributes to 7% of A-Basin’s renewable energy use while on-site renewable energy sources provide less than 1%.
A-Basin’s last big chunk of renewable energy (20%) comes from Xcel Energy’s Renewable Connect program. A-Basin has been subscribing to the program since 2018 and sources energy from a large solar farm in the Eastern Plains of Colorado.
“It delivers us about 20% of our needs and at the time (2018) that accounted for all the usage associated with snowmaking as well as the Black Mountain Express chairlift,” Nathan said.
The announcement that A-Basin is now operating with 100% renewable energy shows the ski area’s commitment to its pledge, though the effort to mitigate the area’s carbon emissions is ongoing, according to Nathan.
“Something that both ourselves, as well as Summit County government and many other businesses in Summit County sort of have on their radar is something called electrification,” Nathan said. “That would basically be moving some of those other uses that typically come from fuel to electricity. Now that electricity is 100% renewable, if we can do more things with electricity, then that means we are having a smaller carbon footprint.”
Ultimately, A-Basin hopes that reaching the 100% renewable energy milestone will set the ski area up for future sustainability projects that will continue to protect the surrounding environment and the planet as a whole.