After a long primary season, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees for president continue to expend plenty of hot air… and probably will continue to do so through Election Day in November. Now, maybe some of that wind will actually power their conventions.
This year, XCel Energy is donating wind power to help run both the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, MN and the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO. This story from the Rocky Mountain News says it will help both parties meet their campaign pledges of reducing CO2 emissions while using domestically-produced, clean energy:
“We are pleased to provide clean, renewable power to the conventions because we want to display for the nation’s elected leaders and delegates what a 21st Century utility can look like,” Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, said in a statement Monday.
Xcel said the two, week-long conventions combined would use about 3,000-megawatt hours of power. The donated wind power is worth about $30,000, a utility spokesman said.
That much coal-generated power would produce about 1,800 to 2,000 tons of CO2. Replacing it with clean wind power would be as beneficial as taking 300 to 330 cars off the road annually, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
The power will come from wind farms along the Colorado-Wyoming border and in Southwestern Minnesota.