If you have ever flown in or out of Las Vegas at night, then you have most likely seen that bright beam of light that’s been shooting out of the top of the Luxor and into the night sky since 1993. You can’t miss it even among the other bright lights. As it turns out, that beam of light costs Luxor about $51 per hour to operate which adds up to nearly half a million dollars per year.
Still, that light is just a drop in the bucket in terms of power consumption. As a whole, Las Vegas casinos consume about 400 million megawatts of power each year. That’s 20% of all of Las Vegas’ power. And it isn’t cheap. A report by Business Insider says that the Las Vegas Strip’s casinos cost about $350 million per year to power. Are there any cheaper and greener alternatives?
Cutting Costs
One way that casinos have been tackling the rising costs of powering their venues is by using solar power. In recent years, MGM Resorts International has been quite successful with solar power. One just has to look at the company’s Mandalay Bay property in Las Vegas to appreciate the impact and effectiveness of solar power. Its rooftop solar farm covers a whopping 20 acres and provides about 20% of the facility’s daytime power needs. That’s enough to power over 1,000 homes for a full year.
The thing is that solar power in its current state cannot provide nearly enough electricity to power an entire modern casino resort. It might be advanced enough to provide enough power to run a few online minimum deposit casinos. However, when you consider such things as casino hotels, entertainment venues, pools, restaurants, and those massive air conditioning systems, the technology isn’t quite there yet.
Of course, casinos consider other solutions too. MGM Resorts has cut energy costs by replacing over 1.3 million light bulbs on its properties with LED lights. Even though LED lights are more expensive, they last longer and are far more energy efficient. Simple, yet effective.
Building Design
Another way to keep energy costs down is by designing energy-efficient buildings. Resorts World Las Vegas has adopted this strategy in its efforts to conserve energy and be more environmentally friendly. In 2021, the casino entertainment giant announced that its three Las Vegas properties had earned LEED Gold Certification. Only 6 other buildings in Nevada’s hospitality sector have achieved LEED Gold Certification.
For those unfamiliar with LEED, it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and it is considered the global gold standard in the green building realm.
Going Green is Bad News for Some
Not everyone is happy with the green visions of Las Vegas casino operators like MGM and Resorts World. NV Energy, Nevada’s main power supplier, has taken a bit of a financial hit. Every energy-efficient building, LED light, and solar panel takes away from the utility titan’s bottom line.
Remember Luxor’s light that we touched on in the intro? Well, it uses only half of the electricity that it used to because it now uses about half of its original 39 seven-thousand-watt bulbs. Where Luxor sees a half million in savings, NV Energy sees half a million in lost revenue.
Even when a casino removes itself from the icy grips of NV Energy, it costs them dearly. Back in 2016, MGM Resorts was forced to pay the extortionate amount of $86.9 million to break away from NV Energy. Wynn Resorts and the Las Vegas Sands had to pay $23.9 million and $15.7 million respectively to do the same.
Conclusion
Like most other businesses, casinos are always looking for ways to reduce their energy costs and environmental footprints. Well, that and finding new ways to separate visitors from their money. While things like solar power, LED lights, and green building initiatives are a great start, there is still a long way to go. In the meantime, every little bit helps including using green cleaning supplies using less water, and using more efficient heating and cooling systems.
