Electricity Consumption Drops During Super Bowl : Coal Fired Plants Working

Interesting that this article mentions coal fired power plants to generate enough electricity to making sure everyone has enough power to run their collective wide screen TV's. I wonder to how many windmills and solar panels, in the future, it will take to make sure everyone can watch the Super Bowl.

Everyone will just have to hope the wind blows and the sun is shining, other wise the big screens will dark, and all those gathered for the big game will have to turn to card games for their entertainment for the day.

Oh and by the way, staying warm will be another a big factor for entertainment when the screen is dark, playing cards with gloves on is a challenge.

Electricity Consumption Drops during the Super Bowl
Source: Lloyd Bentsen, "Super Bowl is Good for the Environment?" NCPA Energy and Environment Blog, February 2, 2015. Barry Fischer, "Will the Super Bowl save the planet? How America's most watched TV event reduces home energy usage," Outlier, January 27, 2013.

February 3, 2015

Over at the NCPA's Energy and Environment Blog, Senior Research Fellow Lloyd Bentsen offers a surprising statistic: energy consumption actually drops during the Super Bowl.

Millions tuned in to watch this year's Super Bowl, and, according to General Electric, televisions alone during the ballgame consume more than 11 million kilowatt-hours of energy, which the blog Outlier says is the same as the amount of power generated by 10 medium coal-fired power plants during the course of the game.

But when it comes to total household electricity consumption, it actually falls during the Super Bowl, dropping 5 percent below normal Sunday afternoons during the winter.

Why? Folks gathered around their televisions typically aren't using other appliances, and many go to other people's homes to watch the game. According to Outlier, the drop in energy usage during the game reduces America's overall energy bills by $3.1 million.