Sin City is going solar thanks to MGM Resorts International ($ MGM)who is currently producing a new 100 megawatts (MW) Solar system Capable of providing up to 90% of daily electricity to the company’s 13 resorts scattered across the Las Vegas Strip. These include hotels like Aria, MGM Grand, and The Mirage. The solar system will support the hospitality company’s climate-conscious goals for 2030.
MGM Resorts International is a Fortune 500 company with 31 different resorts around the world, although its largest hotel location is in Las Vegas, where it was founded in the mid-1980s. For perspective, MGM’s 13 resorts in Las Vegas alone offer over 36,000 rooms and occupy 65 million square feet.
Add in all the flashing lights, appliances, and air conditioners in a desert setting known for its 24/7 lifestyle, and that’s a lot of energy. MGM has recognized its huge carbon footprint in recent years and has switched to energy solutions such as installing energy efficient lighting, heating and air in all of its hotels and ensuring that every resort built after 2009 receives Green Building certification .
MGM has also used solar panels to build travel destinations like Las Vegas ecologically more sustainable, also. In 2015, the company developed an 8.3 megawatt system on the roof of the convention center of its resort in Mandalay Bay.
The recent announcement of the solar array in Las Vegas is the next step for MGM Resorts International.
MGM’s first solar array in Las Vegas on the roof of the Mandalay Bay Resort
MGM is officially bringing solar power to Las Vegas
in the an official press release from MGM Resorts, the company now has a 100 megawatt Solar system in the desert north of Las Vegas on 640 acres with 323,000 individual panels.
According to MGM, this system is now the world’s largest directly procured renewable electricity project in the hotel industry. In the true competitiveness of Las Vegas, MGM Resorts is the only company with access to all the renewable energy generated by the new solar system. How do you like that, Caesar’s?
Commenting on the announcement, Bill Hornbuckle, CEO and President of MGM Resorts:
With the vast size and resources of MGM Resorts, we are able to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change and we recognize our responsibility to build a greener future. Today we are taking a significant step forward in our environmental sustainability initiatives in Las Vegas and our long-term vision to protect the planet and make a lasting, positive impact in our communities around the world.
The integration of this Las Vegas-sized solar array should help MGM meet some of the above climate goals, including reducing the company’s emissions per square foot by 45%. In addition to the announcement of the solar system, MGM has also presented two even more ambitious ones Goals for its energy consumption go forward:
- Reduction of the absolute greenhouse gas emissions of Scope 1 and 2 by 50% by 2030 (base year 2019)
- Get 100% renewable electricity in the US and 80% worldwide by 2030
Big goals from a company that is constantly trying to outperform its competition. Looking ahead, MGM Resorts seems to shine brighter and greener than the rest of Las Vegas with the help of its second, massive solar array.
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