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Sustainable power: The case of Disney World


Disney World in Florida acquired political resonance late in 2023 and early 2024 when many people (some sensible folks among them) thought the host state's governor, Ron DeSantis a plausible candidate for President of the United States.

DeSantis was against Disney in a very loud and litigious way. This is odd because a state's governor usually takes a rather positive view of that state's largest employer.

But DeSantis needed an example of what he called the "woke corporations" of the United States. Ideally one that he could kick around a bit as Governor of Florida. Disney served as such.  Perhaps because it gives generous health insurance benefits to its employees and their domestic partners, whether or not the partners are lawful spouses, and whether or not they are of the same sex as the employees. Gasp.  Horrors. 

Contemplating this recently, I became curious about Disney World's energy consumption and carbon footprint. Does the power involved merely come from the Florida grid?  Or is some portion of it self-generated?  If the latter: how renewable and carbon-emitted are the companies own plants? 

From what little I know so far: the park has significant power generation capacity, NOT left on standby in case of emergencies but contributing alongside the grid's contribution to the lights and action of the park. Of this separate contribution, some is solar and some is natural gas. 

More formally speaking, the Walt Disney Co,. has a wholly owned subsidiary, Reedy Creek Energy Services, which owns the energy system of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District west of Orlando. Some of its power is purchased from the public power grid, some not. 

I expect go give a more detailed report at a later day.  

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