Make it
Electric Energy information to help you manage your operation • September 2012
Efficiency that pays Lueken’s Village Foods capitalizes on lighting and refrigeration efficiency programs Brent Sicard began sweeping floors at Lueken’s Village Foods in 1997. Today Sicard is the store’s award-winning director, largely for his energyand cost-saving efforts. “When I took over as store director in 2006, everyone in the grocery industry was focused on gross profit, sales, and labor,” said Sicard. “When it came to energy costs, my industry seemed to shrug its shoulders and say, ‘It is what it is.’ I looked at it and said, ‘This is a large portion of our spending. How can we do it more efficiently?’” Lueken’s Village Foods has used Otter Tail Power Company’s Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) to complete 12 energyefficiency projects in the last two years at its two Bemidji, Minnesota, locations. As a result, the company has reduced its total energy consumption by more than 751,500 kilowatt-hours (kwh) and saved approximately $50,000 a year in energy costs. Lueken’s also has qualified for $80,000 in CIP rebates. As a result of Sicard’s mindset and the efficiency and savings he’s achieved, the Minnesota Grocers Association has named him 2012 Store Manager of the Year in its small chain category. Continued . . .
Have an energy-efficiency idea for your business? If you have an idea for an energy-efficiency project, be sure to contact your Otter Tail Power Company energy management representative listed on the back of this newsletter.
Step 1 Lighting can account for up to 40 percent of electricity costs in commercial buildings. Switching to highefficiency lighting can reduce those costs significantly. With this in mind, Sicard began his lighting-efficiency quest in the warehouse, which had 400-watt metal halide fixtures operating nearly 24 hours a day. With the help of Otter Tail Power Company Energy Management Representative Ken Johnson, Lueken’s replaced these fixtures with energy-efficient motioncensored high-bay fluorescent fixtures.
“This was our first step, and then we started looking at everything else that used electricity and asking, ‘What can we do better?’” said Sicard.
Step 2
2011-2012 Lueken’s Village Foods energy-efficient lighting projects North store
The energy and cost savings for Lueken’s lighting retrofit was significant. Each metal halide fixture had an input wattage of 460 watts; the replacement high‑bay fixture has an input wattage of 217 watts. That’s a savings of 243 watts per fixture. Lueken’s saves 94 kwh a month on average, or $74 a year per fixture, not to mention the labor savings in maintenance associated with these long-life fixtures. On top of this, Lueken’s also will save energy and costs by using motion-censored lighting technology.
Payback in Approximate Approximate years Annual kwh after savings savings rebate
Refrigeration can account for up to 50 percent of energy consumption in grocery stores, making energy efficiency essential. Otter Tail Power Company customers who install energy-efficient refrigeration equipment save by:
Lighting retrofit spot-lighting
24,504
$ 1,610
4.18
1. Lowering operating costs.
Lighting retrofit indoor lighting (4-lamp to 2-lamp with chrome reflectors)
95,376
$ 6,265
1.78
2. Taking advantage of up-front rebates on certain types of equipment to offset the initial investment.
Lighting retrofit marquee sign
49,669
$ 3,263
7.94
117,648
$ 7,728
3.84
Lighting retrofit storefront lighting (Replaced neon with LED)
28,960
$ 1,902
4.54
Refrigeration LED display case lighting low-temp
84,688
$ 5,563
0.77
400,845
$ 26,331
3.28 years average payback
The Lueken’s store in south Bemidji is planning a refrigeration retrofit by upgrading its compressor controls. The store will qualify for a rebate of $75 per horsepower. The new controls require 241 horsepower, which will result in an $18,000 rebate. The store also will have a demand savings of 30 kilowatts and an energy savings of 250,000 kwh per year, which will lead to an annual savings of $15,000.
Lighting retrofit can and recessed lighting
TOTALS
South store
Lighting retrofit spot-lighting
Payback in Approximate Approximate years Annual kwh after savings savings rebate 24,504
$ 1,610
4.18
Lighting retrofit indoor lighting (4-lamp to 2-lamp with chrome reflectors)
113,640
$ 7,465
1.06
Lighting retrofit marquee sign
113,759
$ 7,473
2.44
28,960
$ 1,902 $
Lighting retrofit storefront lighting Lighting retrofit outdoor (Wallpack metal halide replaced with LED) Refrigeration LED display case lighting low-temp TOTALS
“I think everyone needs to take a good hard look at what they pay a year in energy costs and set goals, just like they do with sales, labor, and gross profit,” said Sicard. “Even though rates have increased, we are paying $25,000 to $30,000 less a year per store for electricity than we were paying two years ago.”
Lueken’s five-year electrical demand (kw) North store
4,126
271
65,728
$ 4,318
350,717
$ 23,039
South store
Year
Demand kilowatts
Year
Demand kilowatts
4.54
2012
493.8
2012
322.7
3.70
2011
569.7
2011
328.9
2010
573
2010
363.6
2009
564
2009
345.5
2008
551.1
2008
357.6
.75 1.99 years average payback
A perfect partnership Sicard spends from six months to two years researching technology before finding the right fit. “We studied lighting and kicked around a lot of options before we decided on high-bay fluorescent fixtures,” Sicard said. “And refrigeration is the same way.”
communities thrive. And as long as we continue to provide energy efficiency at a lower cost than adding new energy resources, it makes business sense for us, too.”
As an energy management representative, Ken Johnson plays an integral part in the implementation process. “When Brent finds a vendor, he makes sure that the vendor contacts me to ensure that the project qualifies for all possible incentives—and that’s a wonderful partnership,” said Johnson. “It’s important to us to be able to work with the vendors because they know their products.”
“When Brent finds a vendor, he makes sure that the vendor contacts me to ensure that the project qualifies for all possible incentives— and that’s a wonderful partnership.”
Johnson’s position places him in a unique role. “I don’t sell the technology. I sell electricity. Yet I’m encouraging my customer to use less of the product that I sell,” said Johnson. “This helps keep our customer’s energy bills lower and his business more profitable. That helps our
- Ken Johnson Energy Management Representative
Sicard’s innovative thinking goes beyond lighting and refrigeration. Another costsaving measure he undertook was the south store’s terrazo flooring. The cost of maintaining the floor was more than $54,000 a year. “I did some research because I thought there had to be something else. I found out that in Europe they never wax stone flooring, they just polish it because once stone is polished, it’s always polished.” Polishing the floors has reduced the store’s operating costs by $30,000 a year. Other possible future projects include capitalizing on the store’s 110,000-square-foot roof space by turning it into a garden and making modifications to the entryway system. “In the winter the front third of my store is cold, and it’s not hard to see why. The first two doors open like a wind tunnel,”
said Sicard. With thousands of customers entering the store each week, a change to the entryway system would greatly improve the store’s efficiency. Although Lueken’s Village Foods has succeeded with many of its cost- and efficiency-related projects, some never became reality. “We’re as proud of the projects we’ve walked away from as the projects that we’ve done. We’re not afraid to walk away from a project if the math doesn’t make sense or if we don’t fully understand it,” said Sicard. “The question we keep asking is, ‘What’s possible?’”
“Even though rates have increased, we are paying $25,000 to $30,000 less a year per store for electricity than we were paying two years ago.” - Brent Sicard Lueken’s Village Foods
Increase your efficiency through technology
Our industrial services engineers and energy management representatives can help you identify and evaluate energy-efficient productivity-increasing technologies for your business. In addition to helping you understand operational requirements and advantages, they will conduct rate and payback analyses. Contact your representative today!
215 South Cascade Fergus Falls, MN 56537
Make It Electric provides information for industrial and commercial customers interested in energy efficiency, increased productivity, and new technologies. Industrial Services Otter Tail Power Company 215 South Cascade Fergus Falls, MN 56537 800-493-3299 Fax: 218-739-8941 www.otpco.com
Contacts
Mark Remer
Paul Aasgaard, P.E.
Jeremy Rham
Senior Industrial Services Engineer Fergus Falls 218-739-8492 paasgaard@otpco.com
Senior Commercial and Industrial Services Engineer Fergus Falls 218-739-8333 jrham@otpco.com
Brad Nelson
Bob Sitzmann Energy Management Representative for Jamestown, Oakes, and Garrison areas 701-253-4703 bsitzmann@otpco.com
Senior Industrial Services Engineer Fergus Falls 218-739-8967 mremer@otpco.com
Energy Management Representative for Milbank and Wahpeton areas 605-432-4713 ext. 6602 bnelson@otpco.com
Scott Sigette
Ken Johnson
Energy Management Representative for Rugby, Langdon, and Devils Lake areas 701-662-4876 ext. 740 ssigette@otpco.com
Energy Management Representative for Crookston and Bemidji areas 218-739-8530 kjohnson@otpco.com
Craig Farstad
Bill Klyve
Terry Stallman
Energy Management Representative for Fergus Falls area 218-739-8681 cfarstad@otpco.com
Energy Management Representative for Morris area 800-630-7358 bklyve@otpco.com
Economic Development Consultant for Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota 800-630-7965 tstallman@otpco.com