CEDAR CITY, Utah — To green or not to green isn’t a question at this season’s Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, as Rocky Mountain Power is offsetting the event’s entire power consumption with Blue Sky renewable energy. The festival runs June through October, on the Southern Utah University campus. 

The utility is buying 5,690 blocks of its Blue Sky clean energy option to offset all the electricity used by the Festival’s two main theatres – the Adams Shakespearean Theatre and the Randall L. Jones Theatre – as well as the Auditorium Theatre. Each block represents 100 kilowatt-hours of power and comes from the Pleasant Valley wind farm.

 “What I enjoy is that our participation in Blue Sky furthers our efforts to keep the planet green,” said Lew Haslam, director of facilities and technology for the Utah Shakespearean Festival.

“We have a long, supportive relationship with the Shakespearean Festival as one of its first corporate sponsors,” said Mark Cox, regional community manager for Rocky Mountain Power. “For the last few years, we’ve been sponsoring its education outreach program.”

The Fall Festival runs Sept. 22 through Oct. 28 with three plays: The Merchant of Venice, Peg o’ My Heart, and Johnny Guitar. Activities include free literary seminars and orientations, Wednesday-Sunday, discussing the season's shows; free actor seminars every Wednesday and Friday; free prop seminars every Thursday and Saturday; and intimate and detailed backstage tours Thursdays and Saturdays.

The Blue Sky gift provides environmental benefits equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 569 tons - which has the same benefit as not driving a car more than 1.2 million miles or planting 224 acres of trees.

Wind is an attractive form of energy generation because it helps reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky program gives both large and small customers a way to increase the demand for clean, renewable energy and to take advantage of its environmental benefits. It is sold in 100 kilowatt-hour increments, called blocks, for $1.95 per block per month in addition to a customer's regular bill.

Just one block of Blue Sky has the same environmental benefit of either planting about a half acre of trees or not driving 2,500 miles. Enrollment is optional, and customers can increase their participation or withdraw at any time. For more information or to sign up for Blue Sky, call 800-842-8458 or e-mail  bluesky@pacificorp.com . Customers can sign up online at www.rockymtnpower.net/bluesky .

The Utah Shakespearean Festival, which attracts 150,000 visitors during its summer and fall seasons, is dedicated to the entertainment, enrichment and education of its patrons through the presentation of live repertory theatre that illuminates the human condition.

Tickets can be purchased for the fall lineup by visiting online at www.bard.org , by calling 800-PLAYTIX, or by visiting in person at the Festival Box Office at Center and 300 West streets in Cedar City.

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