Climate Courage by Andreas Karelas & Katharine Hayhoe

Author:Andreas Karelas & Katharine Hayhoe [Karelas, Andreas & Hayhoe, Katharine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beacon Press

What’s great about organizations like Apple or Nike or the Yankees committing to sustainability is that their efforts go beyond the impact of reducing their footprint or even inspiring other organizations in their industry. The real game-changer is in the minds of the public. Think about all the Yankee fans who will be surprised to learn about their team’s commitment to meeting the Paris Agreement goals, and how that might shape their own opinions on the UN climate accords. Or for all the athletes who wear Nike apparel and know that their gear was made using renewable energy. As opposed to sustainability being something that’s foreign or fringe, when brands that we trust demonstrate that they want to do something about climate change, climate action becomes a familiar concept and, eventually, people see it as just the way things are done.

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

While the companies we’ve already discussed have certainly gone above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, this next company had to claw its way through regulatory barriers to achieve energy independence.

As I’m sure you’re aware, Las Vegas gets plenty of sun. And the hotels and casinos there use lots of electricity to keep their establishments open around the clock. In 2016, MGM Grand, owner of thirteen casinos and resorts along the strip, decided to invest in achieving energy independence rather than be subject to the increasing costs of their electric utility, NV Energy.22 They started by adorning the decadent Mandalay Bay Resort convention center with twenty-six thousand solar panels, making it the largest contiguous rooftop solar array in the country at the time.23 This array produces enough solar energy to power one thousand homes every year.24

But the astonishing 8.3 megawatt system still only covered 25 percent of the power MGM needed.25 To further achieve energy security, they had to build more solar offsite. This posed a problem to NV Energy, the regulated monopoly utility provider. In most parts of the country, you can’t choose the company you buy your energy from. To keep the electric grid functioning smoothly, most states are regulated, meaning they only allow one major electric utility to provide energy for everyone in a certain area. The original idea behind the model was understandable: state governments didn’t want different power companies building different grids connecting their own wires every which way and creating a veritable mess. Today, however, many states have successfully deregulated their electricity markets, allowing customers to choose among different electricity providers all through the same wires.

But in Las Vegas, MGM didn’t have that option. And NV Energy didn’t want to let them go, as MGM’s thirteen properties accounted for 7 percent of NV Energy’s electricity sales. The three-member Public Utility Commission that regulates NV Energy set the fee that MGM would have to pay to source its own energy at $126.5 million.26 The regulators justified the exit fee with an argument known in the industry as the “utility death spiral.”27 If one customer leaves the grid to go solar, then

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