POLITICAL CONVENTIONS WILL RUN ON WIND AND SUN

The political gestures in the Senate June 10 toward putting a tax on oil company windfall profits and toward shifting oil company tax breaks to funding for New Energy (see Two Energy Bills, Including Windfal Tax, Stall in Senate) were nothing more than election-year political one-upsmanship. The outcome was predetermined and had been seen in several previous, more sincere efforts. (See SQUARING OFF: THE FIGHT FOR NEW ENERGY INCENTIVES and NEW ENERGY INCENTIVES IN THE HOUSE, etc.)

If the story is going to be about political one-upsmanship, bring on the real deal, the conventions. Now those are real shows.

There is extra cost involved this time around to run the conventions on wind and sun. Xcel Energy, the first utility to power both party conventions in different cities in the same year, will absorb the $30,000. It is estimated it will save 1,800 to 2,000 tons of CO2.

Too bad all that speechifying hot air has to go to waste. Talk about biogas. If Xcel could capture it, the utility could easily make back its cost.

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Xcel will use wind, solar energy to power conventions
June 9, 2008 (Denver Business Journal)
and
Xcel: Wind, sun will power 2008 conventions
John Vomhoff Jr., June 9, 2008 (Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal
and
Xcel donating wind power to run Dem, GOP conventions
Jerd Smith, June 9, 2008 (Rocky Mountain News)

WHO
Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee, Xcel Energy

WHAT
The 2008 national conventions are both in cities where Xcel Energy is a major utility. In keeping with best practices for high profile events, both conventions will strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Xcel Energy will provide wind energy equal to all the electricity consumed at each event. In addition, the facility where the Democratic event will be held has a rooftop solar system.

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WHEN
- The 2008 Democratic National Convention will be August 25-28.
- The 2008 Republican National Convention will be September 1-4.

WHERE
- The 2008 Democratic National Convention will be in Denver, CO.
- The 2008 Republican National Convention will be in Minneapolis, MN.
- Xcel Energy is based in Minneapolis.

WHY
- Xcel Energy is first among U.S. utilities in wind generation capacity.
- Xcel’s Windsource program will provide the estimated 3,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy to meet the two conventions’ consumption.
- The wind will come primarily from Xcel’s Ponnequin Wind Facility near the Colorado-Wyoming border and from a wind installation in the Buffalo Ridge region of southwestern Minnesota.
- Denver’s Pepsi Center, where the DNC will take place, has a 10 kilowatt rooftop solar system that will supplement the wind supply.
- Republicans will get solar energy from St. Paul’s High Bridge Generating Station.

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QUOTES
- Dick Kelly, chairman/President/CEO, Xcel 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…"
- Damon Jones, spokesman, Democratic National Convention Committee: "We've asked all of our partners to do what they can to be sustainable…Our commitment is to be as environmentally sustainable as we possibly can be. A step that a major provider like Xcel is taking will help minimize our carbon footprint as much as possible."
- Matt Burns, spokesman, Republican National Convention Committee: unavailable for comment but likely would have said almost the same thing as the Democrat in different words.