Crested Butte Mountain Resort is jumping on the "green" energy bandwagon.

Owners Tim and Diane Mueller announced plans Thursday to buy enough wind energy to offset all electricity use at their three ski resorts - Crested Butte in Colorado, Okemo in Vermont and Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire.

The company will buy 27 million kilowatt-hours of wind-energy certificates from national renewable-energy provider Sterling Planet, through an agreement brokered by the Gunnison County Electric Association.

"Environmental stewardship is a core value of our company, as it is for many of our guests," Tim Mueller said in a statement. "Offsetting 100 percent of our resorts' energy use reinforces our commitment to the environment, as well as to the local communities in which we operate."

Aspen Skiing Co. led Colorado's charge toward wind energy in March, when it announced it would offset 100 percent of its electricity through renewable-energy certificates.

Vail Resorts Inc. followed earlier this month, saying it would use wind-energy credits to power its five mountain resorts, lodging properties, retail outlets and new corporate headquarters in Broomfield. The company is now the second-largest corporate purchaser of wind power in the nation, behind Whole Foods.

Roughly 40 of the 325 U.S. ski resorts are now purchasing green energy, according to the Lakewood-based National Ski Areas Association.

"I absolutely think our industry is out in front on this issue," said Geraldine Link, the group's director of public policy. "We're trying to set an example with other industries to create more demand for green power and make it a more viable option as an energy source."

Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.