The CEO for one of Utah’s largest producers of rock products says wind energy has helped the firm operate its cement plant in the Snyderville Basin for more than a year.
“We’re a mining company at our heart and we’re impacting the roads we travel on with traffic and everything else,” said Scott Parson, president and CEO for Staker Parson Companies. “Businesses that are impacting the environment, it’s especially important for those types of businesses to be sustainable.”
With wind energy from Rocky Mountain Power Staker Parson Companies offsets about 75,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, he said.
“The cost of energy as a percentage of our total operating costs has increased substantially during the last five to six years,” Parson said in a telephone interview. “As that has increased, our attention in that area has also increased.”
For more than a year, electricity used at a plant producing ready-mix concrete at 4122 Atkinson Road has been offset with wind power, he said.
Staker Parson Companies is one of many businesses in Summit County participating in Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky renewable energy program.
“We purchase energy that is generated in their wind farms,” Parson said.
By buying the alternative form of energy, Staker Parson Companies will help eliminate the equivalent of more than 160,000 automobile miles, the company’s energy specialist, Justin Lowery said.
“We have a corporate responsibility to promote a clean environment and these investments provide an opportunity to meet this responsibility,” Lowery said.
Parson added, “I think there is a heightened awareness about sustainability and greenness, that it’s becoming more and more important to people, and it’s becoming more and more important to us as well.”
According to Rocky Mountain Power, more than 67,000 homes and businesses voluntarily buy wind energy through the Blue Sky program. Squatters Roadhouse Grill, at 1900 Park Avenue, is a major participant.
“It does increase the odds that renewable energy will be available to more people in the state of Utah sooner rather than later,” said James Soares, Squatters director of environmental and social responsibility.
The restaurant industry is a large energy consumer, he explained.
“We’re open long hours and we have gas ranges and HVAC (heating and ventilation) systems,” Soares said. “Operationally, I’d say it is energy intensive, more than average.”
Money businesses contribute to Blue Sky could help fund development of wind farms for Utahns, he said.
“We support the program because we believe that Rocky Mountain Power is honest in their support of finding alternative sources of sustainable or renewable energy in the state,” Soares said. “We don’t just look at the economic part, although profit is important, but we also look at how our choices impact the planet and how they impact the people.”
Meanwhile, businesses buy 100 kilowatt-hours of wind energy from Rocky Mountain Power for about $1.95 per month.
“We’ve gradually increased the amount of our involvement to where we are now. A company could get involved at a very small level,” Soares said. “It’s an added expense, but we believe it is a good use of dollars because the end result is going to be really valuable to not just our generation but hopefully all the other beer drinkers who come along after us.”