Experience - cont.

Chicopee, Massachusetts-based Pioneer Cold provides of comprehensive, temperature-controlled supply chain solutions for both large and small companies. It has over 15 million cubic feet of refrigerated and frozen storage for the food industry. Hill Energy Services has helped Pioneer to better understand its electrical usage patterns and options. In 2008 we evaluated the feasibility of relocating their transformers and switching from the local electrical utility to an alternate electric distribution company.

Cambridge Savings Bank (CSB) is one of the largest Community Banks in Massachusetts, with 15 branches in Greater Boston and over $2 billion in assets. The Bank has long been recognized as a leader in energy efficiency. Hill Energy Services serves as CSB’s energy adviser, providing technical, utilities budgeting and energy procurement services. We also provide the benchmarking and labeling support for the Bank’s participation in the US EPA’s Energy Star Program. Cambridge Savings’ retail banking centers were the first bank branches in the country to earn the Energy Star designation.

C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. distributes groceries and food to supermarkets and military bases across the US. Hill Energy Services served as C&S’ Outsourced Energy Manager for over six years. In this role, we worked with the Facilities, Finance and other departments to manage over $35 million in annual utilities and fuel spending. During this period, savings and avoided costs averaged $2.3 million per year. Some of the challenges that we faced with C&S were:

Refrigeration Controls were operating on manual override and wasting energy. We worked with the Corporate Director of Refrigeration to reset controls for fan and compressor operations along tighter parameters. This was done without expensive reprogramming.
Inefficient Facilities: Older facilities suffered from low maintenance budgets and high operating costs. Hill Energy developed and championed facility upgrades to increase energy efficiency and improve conditions. These included improvments to lighting systems, HVAC equipment, building controls, dock doors and roofing.
Energy Procurement: C&S was not taking advantage of its size to leverage energy procurement and get better pricing for electricity, natuiral gas, heating oil and propane. We used a variety of energy procurement strategies to find the best fits between facility needs and National/Regional market patterns. We incorporated our strategic knowledge of the energy markets into budgeting for electricity and heating costs.