Lamb Weston received a $500,000 check from Umatilla Electric Cooperative Thursday, May 3, for completing one of the Northwest’s largest industrial energy savings projects in the past decade.
The incentive check was given for the potato processor’s Boardman West Refrigeration Project, which will save the company an estimated 12,975,327 kilowatt-hours annually.
Implemented in two phases over a 16-month period, the project replaced compressors, condensers and other refrigeration equipment.
The energy savings were 18 percent higher than estimated, said Nosh Makujina, a partner with Bonneville Power Administration’s Energy Smart Industrial (ESI) program.
Since 2009, the ESI program has worked with public utilities to help Northwest industries better manage their energy use and reduce costs.
The Lamb Weston project at Boardman represents the largest energy savings for any ESI refrigeration project to date, and the third largest energy savings for all ESI project categories, Makujina said.
Since 2010, Lamb Weston has completed multiple energy efficiency projects with UEC, for a total of 34,734,000 kilowatt-hours saved. That’s enough to offset the consumption of 3,100 single family homes.
“Your impressive commitment to saving energy has far-reaching benefits,” UEC General Manager Robert Echenrode told Lamb Weston officials. “Saving energy frees up capacity on the UEC system for Lamb Weston and other companies to grow, and it reduces the need for Northwest ratepayers to pay for new generation and transmission.”
