Brooklyn's Progress
October 2003

By The Brooklyn Brewery
 
The Brooklyn Brewery Corp announced that it has signed a five-year contract for wind-generated electricity for its New York City facility.

The company’s Brooklyn plant will be 100 percent wind powered, supplied with NewWind EnergyTM, a product of Community Energy Inc. (CEI), a  leading  marketer/developer of wind-generated electricity.  NewWind EnergyTM is produced from windmills in Fenner, New York, in Upstate Madison County.  The five-year wind power purchase represents the first brewery in the Eastern United States to convert to wind power. 
 
“We wanted to demonstrate that there are viable, clean alternatives to building another polluting power plant,” said brewery president Steve Hindy.  “We also wanted to take a significant step in reducing our dependence on Middle East oil.  Windpower costs a bit more, but we think it makes sense to invest in new sources of energy.  The recent blackout was a wake up call – everyone has to be more conscious of their use of energy.”

The 15-year old company’s move was praised by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.  “This is Brooklyn business at its best,” said Markowitz.  “The Brooklyn Brewery is committed to this innovative, environmentally friendly way of powering its facility.  I hope other businesses realize that there are other clean, safe and affordable energy options that will help all of us conserve energy and protect our environment.”

Compared to the average generation mix in New York’s power pool, Brooklyn Brewery’s commitment of 284,9600 kwh per year is equivalent to the reduction of more than 335 thousand pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) that would be emitted into the atmosphere annually. The CO2 reduction is equivalent to the amount removed from the air by over 22 thousand trees or the amount emitted by cars driven over 290 thousand miles annually. In addition, the switchover will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide by an estimated 1,593 pounds and nitrogen oxides by 564 pounds annually.
 
Brent Alderfer, President of CEI, said: “Brooklyn Brewery is leading the way to clean energy for New York City.  This purchase means New York-based electric power with no fuel and no pollution.  The more customers that follow Brooklyn Brewery’s lead, the more wind farms come on-line in New York.”