City of Lights goes entirely green

City facilities now operate on 100-percent renewable energy

Las Vegas gets more than 300 days of sunshine a year.

And now, in an unofficially official sort of way, Sin City could be called Solar City.

In mid-December 2016, Las Vegas made it official—100 percent of city facilities are now powered by renewable energy.

With the Dec. 12 launch of a 100-megawatt solar farm, Boulder Solar 1, the city of Las Vegas was able to purchase enough green energy to power all of its 140 buildings, street lights, parks and other facilities.

“This is truly a proud day for Las Vegas,” said Mayor Carolyn Goodman, adding that the city has transformed itself into a “world leader in sustainability.”

The Entertainment Capital of the World's renewable energy push began back in 2008 with efficiency measures and solar panel arrays. According to city officials, Las Vegas has since reduced its energy consumption by more than 30%, and saves about $5 million a year in energy costs.

Most of the green energy powering the city’s facilities comes from the desert sun, but Las Vegas will also begin drawing hydropower from the Hoover Dam by the end of 2017.

The Vermont capital of Burlington, with a population of 42,000, was the first major U.S. city to switch its entire energy supply—not just government-run facilities—to renewables in 2014. The ski resort community of Aspen, Colorado, with a population of just over 6,600, followed suit in 2015.

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