Wind Power for Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts became the second-largest corporate buyer of wind power in the nation on Tuesday when it announced it would offset 100 percent of its total electricity use by purchasing wind energy.

Through Boulder-based Renewable Choice Energy, Vail Resorts will buy 152,000 megawatt hours of wind energy a year for its five mountain resorts, including Breckenridge and Keystone, its lodging property, all of its 125 retail locations and its corporate headquarters.

Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz said that while Vail's five mountains had been using various alternative energy sources in the past - Keystone purchased enough wind energy last year to offset electricity costs of its nightskiing program - it was on a much smaller scale than what the corporation committed to on Tuesday.

Katz said the idea behind Vail Resorts' huge investment in wind power was "to reinforce our commitment to the natural environment in which we operate and be a leader on this critical effort within the travel industry."

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Vail Resorts' commitment to wind energy will avoid more than 211 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year, which is equivalent to taking 18,000 cars off the road or planting more than 27,000 trees.