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Energy a key issue for ski areas

Western ski resorts look to Whistler-Blackcomb to save money, electricity; W-B reconsidering wind power

Whistler-Blackcomb still has a long way to go to be energy efficient says Arthur De Jong, the mountain planner and environmental resource manager for the company. Still, that hasn’t stopped the Canada West Ski Areas Association from recognizing Whistler-Blackcomb as a leader, or from using the company as an example of how to save money, energy and the environment by making the right partnerships and investments.

Whistler-Blackcomb was the first ski resort in B.C. to work with B.C. Hydro’s Power Smart incentive program. This year alone the mountains hope to save over $80,000 on their power bills, and more systems are being put into place to enhance those savings even further.

"We’re really just digging in and grabbing the low hanging fruit here, but we still have a long way to go," said De Jong. "I don’t see us as a leader per se, because there is still a lot to do."

Over the next few years the mountains will spend an estimated $300,000-$400,000 on power conservation systems, from basic sensors, timers and compact fluorescent lights to systems that will allow some mountain facilities to seamlessly switch to efficient propane generators at times of peak demand.

"There are a number of those systems in place. We certainly intend to take even bigger steps in the future where we are actually generating sustainable energy, green energy," said DeJong.

A plan to put a run-of-the-river small hydro project along Fitzsimmons Creek has been stalled by the development of the Olympic bobsleigh/luge track on Blackcomb, and may not be economically feasible unless a new route can be found.

The Fitzsimmons Creek project, which could generate enough electricity in the summer to power Whistler-Blackcomb for the winter, was considered by the company to be environmentally benign because there are no fish upstream of Base II.

"We haven’t given up on that," said De Jong.

De Jong said the mountains are also taking another look at wind power. Because of the inconsistent winds and rapidly changing weather conditions in Whistler, earlier studies have suggested that windmills are a poor fit for the area. New technology that allows for power generation with lower average wind speeds has prompted Whistler-Blackcomb to re-evaluate the use of wind power for their operations.

Meanwhile the Canada West Ski Areas Association has created a task force to help members change their own energy practices, using Whistler-Blackcomb’s practices as a model.

"We’ve presented in past CWSAA meetings on environmental initiatives, and there’s a lot of information sharing going on," said De Jong. "When it comes to the environment or social sustainability, we’re not competing with one another, we’re working as a team in the industry to be better stewards."

Jamie Cox, the general manager of Ski Smithers, and Dave Gibson of Ski Marmot Basin volunteered to start a task force on energy conservation at the last CWSAA meeting in October. The focus is wide-reaching, covering everything from transportation to the mountains to the use of energy conserving technologies.

Having larger ski area operators like Whistler-Blackcomb and Lake Louise lead the way, with their strong environmental commitments and funding resources, is helping the smaller resorts improve their own operations says Cox.

"They have more dollars to spend on research and on experiments, and we benefit from their successes," Cox said. "Our Green Task Force is really a pretty innovative group, and our members are constantly pursuing things that would work in favour of all facets of the industry, to benefit the environment, our clients and our members.

"At the end of the day, we all have the same concerns."

One of those concerns is global warming. The Alpine Club of Canada, concerned by the speed alpine glaciers are receding, has recently teamed up with the CWSAA to promote their Melting Mountains campaign. The goal is to create more public awareness about global warming and the effect it could have on the winter recreation industry, while suggesting ways that people could get involved.

At Ski Smithers, one initiative is to encourage locals to take the shuttle to the mountain, rather than driving their cars.

"It’s a bit of a marketing scheme because it drives more people onto our bus, but there’s a moral reason as well, and there are huge environmental benefits to getting people to leave their cars at home," said Cox.

Another way mountains can save power is to have an audit performed. Lake Louise recently hired a company to find out how clean their power system was, replacing old systems and wiring with more efficient technology.

"Dirty power is a far more expensive power because you’re not being efficient with it. The word is that there will be hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for Lake Louise over the years with an initial investment of about $120,000. The payback was only a couple of years, so they’re looking to save $50,000-$60,000 a year with that alone," said Cox.

The CWSAA’s Green Task Force has promoted energy saving before, but the last initiative lost momentum, Cox says. The new task force has a better chance of results with more proof of cost savings from Whistler-Blackcomb and Lake Louise, and the fact that there are programs like B.C. Hydro’s Power Smart to use.

"The bottom line is that it’s a win-win situation when we use our money to help the environment and lower our own costs. I think most of our members are also concerned with global warming and what’s going on with our glaciers, so we will be going in any direction we can to reduce global warming and other environmental impacts," said Cox.