Northern California grocery saves with energy-efficient lighting, refrigeration
The Record, Stockton, Calif. -- Sep. 4--STOCKTON, Calif.
In the highly competitive grocery business, every penny counts.
Save Mart, which operates 119 stores in Northern California -- including
eight S-Mart Foods in Stockton and Lodi, 71 Save Mart Supermarkets including
several in Manteca and Tracy, and 40 Food Maxx stores -- has spent $3 million in
the past three years upgrading its facilities with energy-efficient lighting and
refrigeration.
That effort has earned the family-owned company EnergySmart Grocer status
from the California Public Utilities Commission, which is helping independent
grocers lower their utility bills.
In 1996, the state Legislature adopted Assembly Bill 1890, which, among other
things, established a public-goods charge on electricity purchases. The fund
resulting from this charge supports many of California's energy-efficiency
programs, including the EnergySmart Grocer program.
Program manager Diane Levin said the program operates on a $6.9 million
budget over two years, including its rebate incentive program, and supports five
energy experts around the state who consult with grocers and audit their energy
use.
Rebates amount to an average of 20 percent of the cost of a smaller grocer's
expenses of installing energy-efficient fixtures.
In the case of Save Mart, with Agah on board they didn't take the full
rebate. Instead, they used the program as an incentive "and just ran with
it," Levin said.
"With the hottest days of summer approaching, traditionally bringing the
peak demand on California's electricity transmission system, Save Mart wanted to
do its part to avoid brownouts in the community," said Agah, Save Mart's
director of engineering and construction.
Longtime customer Velma Dangerfield of Stockton was shopping this week in the
frozen-food aisle inside the 10-month-old S-Mart Foods at Hammer Ranch. She took
note of the store's 35 skylights and recognized they were part of its effort
"to save energy. I like this store very much," she said.
Agah said the skylights, being installed in all of the chain's new stores,
allow enough natural light in on sunny days that only 50 percent of the
fluorescent lighting needs to be used.
In fact, from the minute a customer enters an S-Mart or Save Mart store, they
have entered a controlled environment.
"Air curtains at the doors eliminate infiltration of outside air,"
Agah said, noting that on particularly hot days over 100 degrees he is prepared
to "shed power loads" and bring a store's overall temperature up from
72 degrees to 76 degrees.
He is also willing and able to reduce power consumption for refrigeration on
high-peak days. Because the system is fully automated, he can alter temperatures
from one central office location.
"This is my passion, and it has been very successful for us. Energy
costs are becoming almost as much as your rent," he said.
At the company's newer stores, hot air generated from compressors is used to
heat hot water and, in the winter, keep store temperatures comfortable for
customers and employees.
"We don't use any gas heaters during the winter," Agah said.
Around Stockton, six smaller stores participated in the EnergySmart Grocer
program, receiving $23,000 in combined rebates. They are expected to generate
$35,000 in combined cost savings per year, Levin said.
One of those stores is the Marina Marketplace, 3201 W. Benjamin Holt, which
spent about $7,500 on insulated night covers that are pulled down like shades
over open refrigerated cases when the store is closed. The EnergySmart Grocer
program provided the store with a rebate for about half its costs, owner Randy
Toy said.
According to a promotional piece on the night covers, they should reduce
nighttime refrigeration costs by 40 percent and pay for themselves in about
eight months.
"I have to do a little more analysis over the next six months or so to
gauge my energy savings," Toy said.
At S-Mart and Save Mart, while the biggest effort to earn the EnergySmart
Grocer designation may have gone into changing light bulbs and refrigeration
methods, Agah pointed out that one other element is vital to achieving peak
energy efficiency -- employee awareness.
"For instance, in our bakeries, it was traditional to come in early and
turn on the ovens so they'd be warm when you needed them. With modern ovens,
it's not necessary. So don't turn on the oven until you need it. ... We're
seeing hundred of dollars in savings," he said.
Those pennies add up.
TO LEARN MORE: For more information on the EnergySmart Grocer program, phone
(800) 230-9420 or visit www.energysmartgrocer.org
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