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Gore’s electricity use criticized

Al Gore has been criticized for energy use at his Nashville, Tenn., mansion, shown on Tuesday, where the Gores used about 191,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2006. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Kristin M. Hall Associated Press
Al Gore has been criticized for energy use at his Nashville, Tenn., mansion, shown on Tuesday, where the Gores used about 191,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2006. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Al Gore, a leading voice in the fight against global warming, is being called a hypocrite by a conservative group that claims his Nashville mansion uses too much electricity.

A spokeswoman for Gore said the former vice president invests in enough renewable energy to make up for the home’s power consumption.

Gore’s documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth,” which chronicled his campaign against global warming, won an Academy Award on Sunday.

The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research put out a news release saying Gore was not doing enough to reduce his own consumption of electricity. The group disputes whether global warming is a serious problem.

“We wanted to see if he was living by his own recommendations and walking the walk,” said Drew Johnson, president of the think tank, which pushes for conservative economic issues.

Utility records show the Gore family paid an average monthly electric bill of about $1,200 last year for its 10,000-square-foot home.

The Gores used about 191,000 kilowatt-hours in 2006, according to bills reviewed by the Associated Press spanning the period from Feb. 3, 2006, to Jan. 5. That is far more than the typical Nashville household, which uses about 15,600 kilowatt-hours per year.

His Nashville home is more than four times larger than the average new American home built last year – about 2,400 square feet, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

A spokeswoman for Gore said he purchases enough “green power” – renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and methane gas – to balance 100 percent of his electricity costs.

“Sometimes when people don’t like the message, in this case that global warming is real, it’s convenient to attack the messenger,” Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said.

Gore participates in a utility program that sells blocks of “green power” for an extra $4 a month. Gore purchases 108 such blocks every month, covering 16,200 kilowatt-hours and helping subsidize renewable energy sources.