Vegas Misconceptions Unveiled: The Strip Runs Entirely on Renewable Energy Sources
The city of Las Vegas is the first large city in the US to have its government buildings powered solely by renewable energy sources. Made known by Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman on December 12, 2016, this has caused a great deal of misunderstanding about where the Strip's electricity comes from.
To clarify, Mayor Goodman's announcement only related to the city government buildings, not to the casinos, private businesses, or the nearly 200,000 residences in the area. Moreover, none of the Strip lies within the boundaries of Las Vegas city.
While it's commendable that the city's 140 public buildings, streetlights, parks, and fire stations are now running on a combination of solar and hydroelectric energy, this has no connection to the Strip's energy sources.
The Positive Aspects
Large resort companies have taken steps to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.
MGM Resorts switched on its 100-megawatt Mega Solar Array in June 2021, enabling them to supply "up to" 90% of the daytime power needed for their 13 Strip properties. It's unclear what the "up to" signifies, but it might refer to days with clear skies. Before the Mega Solar Array, their Mandalay Bay property was already generating up to 25% of its electricity from its 26,000 solar panels installed on its rooftop. MGM aims to achieve 100% renewable energy usage across the US by 2023.
Wynn Las Vegas has roof coverage of 100,000 square feet for functional solar panels. Additionally, the company opened a 160-acre solar power plant in 2020, which produces up to 75% of its peak demand for Las Vegas.
Caesars Entertainment does not own solar arrays on its properties or elsewhere in Las Vegas. Instead, they procure solar energy on the open market and have publicly committed to reducing carbon emissions by 30% by 2025 and 95% by 2050.
Las Vegas Sands announced in 2019 that the Venetian and the Sands Expo and Convention Center had acquired sufficient renewable energy certificates from Nevada Energy to cover 100% of their energy usage. However, in 2022, these properties were sold to Apollo Global Management Inc. affiliates and VICI Properties Inc.
The Disappointing Facts
Despite these efforts, the conservation results are minimal.
As of 2021, just 33% of Nevada's electricity came from renewable resources, with 18% from solar, 9% from geothermal, and under 5% from hydroelectric. Close to 61% of the state's power still originated from natural gas-powered plants. (Data for the entire state is all that's available, and around 75% of Nevada's 3 million consumers are centered in and around Las Vegas.)
Furthermore, the Luxor Sky Beam, the brightest artificial light globally, does not run on solar power. Since the light is not operational during daytime, it doesn't factor into MGM's claim of 90% daytime solar power usage. With a light output equivalent to 43.4 billion candles and visible by pilots 275 miles away, the Luxor Sky Beam requires 982.8 million joules of energy per hour to operate. This equals the power required for 2.5 average households every year.
Luckily, since 2008, the Luxor Sky Beam has been running at half-strength. According to a 2012 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, only 20 of its 39 xenon lights are activated each night to conserve energy and money. MGM had been operating the Luxor Sky Beam full-strength since its opening in 1993, costing an estimated $1 million annually.
Nevada is moving in the right direction. In 2021, more solar capacity was installed in the state than ever before, and Nevada ranked sixth in the nation in terms of total solar capacity and generation.
However, Nevada still needs to increase its renewable energy usage by 67 percentage points for the Strip to literally operate on 100% renewable energy.
Read also:
- The CDU is pushing for additional medical study positions in Homburg.
- Five occurrences of fives noted in Stuttgart.
- Hahn's proposal of marriage to Hannah
- Officer halts intoxicated motorist aged 61.
Source: www.casino.org
