This past week officials from Stew Leonard”™s accepted a check for over $1 million from the Connecticut Light and Power Company and the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund for participation in energy-efficiency programs at their Norwalk, Danbury and Newington stores.
“The entire state benefits from the energy efficiency improvements made by Stew Leonard”™s at their three Connecticut locations,” said Raymond P. Necci, president and chief operating officer of Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas. “Over the lifetime of the installed technology, almost 85 million kilowatt hours of electricity will be saved. That”™s the equivalent of over 21,000 tons of coal not burned and over 46,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided.”
CL&P says it worked with Stew Leonard”™s throughout the process to make sure the stores advantaged themselves of all suitable Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund programs.
“The benefits of the program have been multiple: energy savings cost, the updating of machinery and reducing maintenance costs, and in some case operational costs,” said Doug Hempstead, vice president for property development. “We”™ve installed Glycol refrigeration systems that cost us $1 million but we save $300,000 a year with a long life system of 20 years. We look at it as a process of reducing energy over a long term rather than sort term and parlay it into the machinery that may be needed to be replaced in the near future.”
“Stew Leonard”™s is a great success story for the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund,” said Rich Steeves, chairman of the Energy Conservation Management Board. “They made great improvements to how they use electricity in their existing stores, and they had the foresight to plan ahead and design-in efficiency into their brand new Newington Store. That is ultimately what we hope for ”“ that people and businesses will think of energy efficiency as a priority, with the same emphasis and consideration that is given to other key aspects of their lifestyle or business plans.”
According to the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund over 30 energy-efficient measures were completed among the three locations. They ranged from visible projects such as high-efficiency lighting and LED (light-emitting diode) signs, to more concealed technologies like carbon dioxide controls that monitor and adjust the flow of outside air based on how many people are in the building.
“Stew Leonard’s has invested millions in energy-reducing projects, including refrigeration, lighting and motor upgrades,” said Hempstead. “For example, for an initial investment of $500,000, we converted our signature road signs to LED, which has reduced those electrical costs by 75 percent as well as decreased electrical consumption during peak periods.”
The efficiency measures have resulted in peak demand savings of over 493 kilowatts in the summer and over 229 kilowatts in the winter.
“Our relationship with Connecticut Light and Power is very active,” said Hempstead. “We bring them in on a quarterly basis to implement measures that both reduce energy usage and peak demand loads, one of these guys goes back with us to seven, eight years. Each visit we look at the new programs that are out there, and reevaluate all our opportunities. We”™ve been actively pursuing this for the last 12 years, ever since the mid 90”™s. These measures not only benefit the environment but also our customers, because it helps contain costs for producing and storing food.”
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