SALT LAKE CITY – The lower price of renewable power isn’t the only reason The Bayou’s Alston brothers are offsetting 100 percent of their electricity with Blue Sky, but it sure helps.

“We buy Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky because we know how bad air quality can get in Salt Lake City,” said Mark Alston, co-owner of The Bayou, a club located at 645 S. State Street. “Plus the price has dropped so much, there’s no reason not to do it.”

Blue Sky comes from wind power. Wind is an attractive form of energy generation because it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Wind power produces no air pollutants, wastewater, smog or acid rain. Plus, the price has declined. When Blue Sky was first introduced in 2000, it was $4.75 per 100-kilowatt hour. In 2003, it declined from $2.95 per 100 kilowatt-hour block to $1.95.

The Bayou is buying 163 blocks of Blue Sky each month, which is the amount of electricity 23 average Utah households use each month. Over a period of a year, it reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 196 tons. This has the environmental benefit of taking 34 cars off the road for a year.

“Our employees are very environmentally conscious and push us to drive the business in the right direction, so this business decision has been very well received,” says brother and co-owner Spencer Alston.

Blue Sky is sold in 100-kilowatt-hour block increments for $1.95 each, in addition to a customer’s regular monthly electric bill. Just one block of Blue Sky has the same environmental benefit of either not driving 2,500 miles or planting a half acre of trees. Enrollment is optional and customers can increase their participation or withdraw at any time. While Rocky Mountain Power already buys renewable energy for its customers, Blue Sky brings even more wind power into the system and encourages wind farm development.

Business customers have two renewable options: Rocky Mountain Power’s standard Blue Sky Block offering and Blue Sky QS (Quantity Savings). Blue Sky QS allows business customers to buy renewable energy from Rocky Mountain Power for less, providing they purchase at least 101 blocks of Blue Sky per month for a year.

For more information or to sign up for Blue Sky, call 1-800-842-8458 or e-mail bluesky@pacificorp.com .  Customers can sign up on line at  www.rockymtnpower.net/bluesky .

More about Rocky Mountain Power and Blue Sky

Rocky Mountain Power is the state’s largest electric utility, serving about 722,525 Utah customers with reliable, safe, low-cost electricity. The U.S. Dept. of Energy ranked Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky program second in the nation for customers enrolled in a renewable power program; and third in the amount of renewable power sold. In Utah, more than 15,000 residential and business customers participate. More than 40,000 customers buy Blue Sky in the Western U.S. Blue Sky wind energy comes from new wind farms in Wyoming and the Pacific Northwest.

Media inquiries: newsdesk@pacificorp.com