Temperatures are dropping, snow guns are firing up, and ski areas are hoping for a better season this year after last year's sparse snowfall. . But one growing expense is giving resort operators headaches: diesel, which now costs about $6.35 per gallon.
Tommy Murray, director of mountain maintenance at New Mexico’s Taos Ski Valley, said it takes a lot of equipment to run a ski resort, and that means lots of fuel.
“With the grooming fleet and the shuttle buses and the loaders that are clearing snow out of our parking lots, we're typically using close to 500 gallons a day,” he said, “which is a huge amount of fuel.”
But Taos had already factored higher fuel costs into its budget before diesel prices surged. That’s because the resort gets 80% to 90% of its fuel from a different source: renewable diesel made from feedstocks like vegetable oil and animal fats, instead of petroleum.
The ski area started making the switch three years ago to meet its sustainability goals.
“It's all about saving our winters and providing less carbon footprint,” Murray said.
Taos also deployed what it described as the first electric snow groomer in North America in 2024. But the limited battery life means the machine is mostly used for lighter tasks versus regular grooming.
Other ski areas, including Arapahoe Basin and Steamboat Springs in Colorado and Big Sky in Montana, have also added renewable diesel in recent years.
Being less reliant on petroleum diesel may offer the resorts some protection from price increases, but it doesn’t mean they’re saving money on fuel. Renewable diesel is typically more expensive than its conventional counterpart, outside of places where government policies narrow the gap, like in California.
“Without government help, it's always going to be a premium product and have a premium cost,” said Jesse Therien with Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities.
Last year, Taos paid roughly $7 per gallon for renewable diesel, Murray said. That meant the resort was already budgeting for a relatively expensive fuel. If it had relied exclusively on petroleum diesel, which was cheaper when the resort set its budget, the recent price spike could have meant it facing much higher costs than expected.
“When we do our budgets in the spring, the fuel costs weren't as high. So when we budget for that cost, and it hits you like this, you're looking at going over budget substantially when you have double the fuel costs,” he said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
