This could be the most-watched Super Bowl on record, thanks in part to Taylor Swift. But that’s not the only milestone for the NFL showdown.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will be powered by 100% renewable energy — a first in Super Bowl history.
The electricity is supplied by a sprawling solar farm of 621,000 panels and battery storage in the Nevada desert that’s owned by the utility NV Energy and was developed by EDF Renewables.
The Raiders have a 25-year deal with NV Energy to buy power from the renewable energy project for Allegiant Stadium and its administrative and practice facilities. The project also has enough capacity to serve other NV Energy customers in the state.
The stadium will use about 28 megawatt hours of power during the Super Bowl, or the equivalent of about 46,000 homes, according to NZero, the company tracking the stadium’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“If they can do it, hopefully it inspires people with homes or small businesses and other corporations to move in this direction,” Adam Kramer, CEO of NZero, told Business Insider. “There’s not a bigger stage in the United States than the Super Bowl, and the fact that sustainability is one of the storylines says everything.”
Kramer said it’s notable that Allegiant Stadium will use renewable energy to reduce its own emissions on-site, rather than buy carbon offsets that claim to cut pollution elsewhere.
A spokesperson for NV Energy said in an email that the deal with Allegiant Stadium is part of a larger strategy to produce 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, which is required under state law.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ sustainability efforts also go beyond renewable energy, Kramer said, noting that Allegiant Stadium has programs to keep waste out of landfills and was built with energy- and water-efficient systems.
The stadium said that about 12,000 pounds of food waste is sent to a livestock farm in Las Vegas after each event, while grass clippings and cigarettes are composted or converted into energy. In July, the stadium became LEED Gold Certified. Seven other stadiums in the US have that certification, which is the second-highest ranking by the trade group the US Green Building Council.
So when the Raiders and San Francisco 49s kick off on Sunday, it won’t just be the turf that’s green.
