Mt. Bachelor celebrates Sustainable Slopes with Blue Sky renewable energy

Feb. 22, 2005

BEND, Ore. — This Saturday, National Sustainable Slopes Day, Pacific Power will offset the electricity used to power all of 12 Mt. Bachelor’s ski lifts by purchasing Blue Sky wind energy.

The ski industry’s Sustainable Slopes Day and its Keep Winter Cool Campaign is a solution-based education campaign about global warming.

“Sustainable Slopes is one way our industry is drawing attention to the impact of global warming,” said Chris Johnston, communications manager for Mt. Bachelor Resort. “In fact, the biggest impacts of warming are likely to be felt where it matters most for winter sports: at higher elevations and northern latitudes.”

“Purchasing wind power and reducing our energy consumption through conservation and energy efficiency are two steps we can all take to help fix the problem,” said Johnston.

Pacific Power is encouraging customers to stop by the Pacific Power Blue Sky table near the ski corral this Saturday and learn now easy it is to buy and support renewable energy through the Blue Sky program.

“Pacific Power is providing 12,000 kilowatt hours of Blue Sky wind power for the day, which is enough electricity to power 12 average Oregon homes,” said Angela Jacobson, Pacific Power’s regional community manager. “This amount of Blue Sky has a significant environmental benefit, as it will keep 24,000 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – the equivalent of not driving 25,700 miles or planting five acres of trees.”

To help keep the slopes cool, Pacific Power is making additional Blue Sky wind energy purchases to “green” several other Mt. Bachelor events. For example, it bought Blue Sky for the recent Slope Style and Pipe Event; and it will buy renewable energy for the upcoming Ski and Snowboard Cross event in March and the April Spring Swing.

Mt. Bachelor also is working to reduce its environmental impact:

Bachelor Super Shuttles reduce more than seven million pounds of greenhouse gases annually.
Bachelor Super Shuttles diverted 1.7 million employee and guest vehicle miles from the road last season.
Recycling by guests diverted 19 tons of garbage from area landfills last season.
Recycling by employees diverted 30 tons of garbage from area landfills last season.

For more information about the “Keep Winter Cool” campaign, log on to www.keepwintercool.org/about.html

About Pacific Power’s Blue Sky

Pacific Power’s Blue Sky program gives customers a way to encourage more renewable energy development, and to have a positive impact on the environment and the region. Since March 1, 2002, Oregon’s Pacific Power residential and small business customers have been able to choose from three renewable power options:

Blue Sky Block — Customers can purchase wind energy in 100 kilowatt-hour blocks for additional $1.95 each. Investing an additional $1.95 per month for one year provides the same benefits as not driving for nearly three months. Each block represents about 10% of the average customer’s monthly electricity usage.

Blue Sky Usage— Under this option, customers purchase all their electricity from newly developed renewable resources — a blend of wind, biomass and solar for only $0.0078 (less than a penny) more per kwh than Basic Service rates. Buying Blue Sky Usage for a year has the environmental benefit of taking two cars off the road or planting nearly five acres of trees.

Blue Sky Habitat— As with Blue Sky Usage, customers purchase all their electricity from newly developed renewable resources — a blend of wind, biomass and solar — for only $0.0078 (less than a penny) more per kwh than Basic Service rates. In addition, customers make a $2.50 monthly contribution to The Nature Conservancy of Oregon to support native fish habitat restoration.

Large businesses have two options: Pacific Power’s standard Blue Sky Block offering and the new Blue Sky QS. The new renewable energy option was approved last November by the Oregon Public Utility Commission. To calculate the cost of buying Blue Sky QS, customers can consult Pacific Power’s online calculator and enrollment information at www.Pacificpower.net/bluesky .