Philadelphia Eagles to take stadium off power grid

The Philadelphia Eagles Football Team are taking their stadium off the power grid with a combination of wind turbines, solar panels, and an alternative fuels power plant. The owners know that's the only way to go for the future. Their power needs are huge -- with escalating costs, power will become a major expense. The era of cheap power is ending. Rich folks and business people know that. So does the Department of Defense. It seems the only folks who are in denial is The United States Congress -- and various homeowners associations, who think solar panels are an "eyesore". It's almost as if being able to afford huge electric bills is a necessity to be a "good neighbor" -- even though some folks seem to only run their AC when it's well above 95F (it's always over 90 in a Dallas Summer -- often over 100 degrees -- sometimes for 15 or more days straight, it actually feels cooler when it drops to 96 degrees). Anyway, the rich tend to have geo-thermal units, wind turbines, solar panels, and/or a combination of the above -- while the middle class and poor either pay through the nose or suffer in the heat AND cold. So, here's to The Eagles.

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Philadelphia Eagles to take stadium off power grid

By Jon Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA | Thu Nov 18, 2010 6:00pm EST

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Philadelphia Eagles are taking their stadium off the power grid and converting Lincoln Financial Field to one that will allow the stadium to generate all its own electricity from renewable sources, team officials said on Thursday.

The NFL club plans to install solar panels, wind turbines and an alternative-fuels power plant the Eagles say will save them $60 million on electricity costs over 20 years.

The savings "prove that sustainable energy policies are consistent with sound business practices," club owner Jeffrey Lurie said at a ceremony in the 70,000-seat field.

The Eagles have contracted with Solar Blue, an Orlando-based renewable energy company, to install 80 20-foot (6.1-meter) wind turbines on the upper rim of the stadium and about 2,500 solar panels.

The turbines and panels will each contribute about 15 percent of the output while the rest will be generated by a plant that can run on biofuels or natural gas.

The new equipment will generate at least 8.6 megawatts of electricity, above the 7 mw peak used by the stadium on game days, said Solar Blue president Lee Maher. Excess power will be sold to a local utility.

Solar Blue will meet the capital cost of $30 million for the 20-year contract.

The energy generated by the new program would be enough to power 26,000 homes and the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be the equivalent of taking 41,000 cars off the road, said Lurie's wife Christina, who heads the club's Go Green environmental program.

The club, whose players wear green uniforms, has been operating a sustainability program for the last seven years, and has aggressive goals on recycling, composting and the purchase of materials such as beer cups from renewable sources.

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell said other clubs may seek to follow Philadelphia's lead.

"I think they will look at this as an opportunity to follow suit because they want to do the right thing in their communities," Goodell said.

(Reporting by Jon Hurdle; Editing by Daniel Trotta)