New Belgium Brewing Wind Power Plan Makes Mother Earth Happy
August, 1999In our last issue, we brought you the news of New Belgium Brewing Company's commitment to buy the equivalent of the brewery's electricity use from wind power, making New Belgium the first wind-powered brewery in America.
New Belgium, craft brewer of Fat Tire Amber Ale and other specialty beers, will purchase the wind energy from Fort Collins Utilities through its Wind Power Pilot Program.
A 660-kw wind turbine will be built next fall at the Platte River Power Authority wind site near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, to support New Belgium's subscription to the program. The turbine will produce about 1.8 million kwh of electricity per year, which is about the amount of electricity that New Belgium will consume in the coming year. Under the agreement, New Belgium will pay a premium price for the wind energy for 10 years.
This dovetails with New Belgium's earth-friendly attitude in all areas. For instance, employees are not just encouraged to bike to work, the company gives each employee a new bicycle on their first anniversary with the company.
Now, the "green" folks at Mother Earth News magazine have recognized New Belgium's environmental consciousness in a sidebar to a wind power article in their June/July 1999 issue, giving a push to Mother's long-standing efforts to promote renewable energy sources and a little boost to New Belgium and their Fat Tire brand, too.
This just goes to show that you can do yourself some good by doing good for Mother Earth.
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