Success Stories

Customer: A major North American pharmaceutical company

Challenge: How do we control expenses and operate efficiently?

Managers responsible for energy decisions in four of the company’s Georgia offices needed new ideas for cutting expenses and preventing outages.

Solution: Practical changes to improve efficiency

Energy efficiency audits — In order to monitor usage on a regular basis, our customer is taking advantage of Georgia Power’s energy audits

Real-time pricing — Our customer accesses access hourly prices for electricity before usage helping to better plan energy use and save money.

Multiple load management rate —our customer was able to combine billing for multiple locations, which lowered energy costs and streamlined administration

Chiller modernization rate — our customer was able to modernize its chillers to meet environmental standards for non-CFC refrigerants.

Results: Value pricing and protection against outages

The rate services alone have reduced energy costs by 11% in the first year. Additionally, our customer’s business is more effectively protected against disaster and downtime by having immediate access to standby generators from Georgia Power.

Customer: Regional and growing convalescent home

Challenge:  How do we keep residents cool and bills low?

Before adding a wing to an existing facility, the owner of a convalescent home worked with her Georgia Power team and building contractor to make important decisions about air conditioning equipment. Together, they reviewed past energy-use patterns, future growth plans and ongoing maintenance costs associated with various options. Budget, long-term needs, resident comfort and safety were all critical considerations choosing equipment.

Solution: Low-maintenance cooling equipment that utilizes excess heat

In assessing the customer’s needs, Georgia Power and the contractor determined that for economy and efficiency, heat pumps were the best choice. Our customer installed heat pumps in every resident’s room. She was so pleased with the result that she then installed heat pumps in her own home, her rental property and in older sections of the convalescent home.

Results: Peace of mind and lower overall expenses

Customer: National fast food restaurant

Challenge: Reducing the high cost of frying with gas

The Director of Operations for a national fast food brand was searching for ways to cut costs. After talking with Georgia Power, he identified that his restaurant’s fryers consumed a significant amount of energy and added to his labor costs. He was also replacing an average of 15 gas fry pots per year, making the annual cost of maintaining the gas equipment more than $10,000.

Solution: A move to electric equipment

After talking with his Georgia Power representative and analyzing the numbers, our customer and his team switched to electric equipment, including new electric EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) fryers in four of the restaurants.

Results: Each location is saving roughly $5,400 annually in shortening, cleanup and utility costs. 

Customer: Popular coastal-area hotel

Challenge: How do we reduce maintenance costs and improve employee morale?

Our hospitality industry customer struggled for years with a severe heat and humidity problem: Clothes washers, dryers and dishwashers raised the temperatures in the surrounding areas to more than 100 degrees. The excess heat was costly for the business in multiple areas:

• Employee turnover escalated
• Service and employee performance suffered
• Expensive phone and computer equipment required constant maintenance and often failed

Solution: Heat Pumps offering cooler surroundings and a less expensive, more efficient way to heat water

After consulting with their Georgia Power team, hotel management integrated two 750-gallon, four-ton heat pump water heaters with their eight-ton air conditioning units. Heat pump water heaters reroute heat generated by equipment such as washers, dryers, and air conditioners and use it to heat water.

Results: Big savings and a turnaround in employee morale

In addition to providing thousands of dollars in annual savings, the switch to heat pumps also resulted in:

• Laundry and dishwashing area temperature reduction from 100 degrees to 75 degrees
• Dramatic reduction in humidity
• Lower employee turnover, with employees requesting to be placed in laundry and dishwashing areas
• Higher productivity, performance and quality
• Reduced maintenance costs for computer and telephone equipment
• Better ventilation

The hotel also took advantage of an incentive from Georgia Power, which helped offset the upfront equipment cost by almost $2,000.

Customer: Nursing home with on-site laundry facility

Challenge: How do we lower operating expenses?

Most nursing homes have to provide a small mountain of clean linen and towels each week to service the needs of its residents. Our customer was laundering on-site, which is generally much less costly than using a laundry service, but was overspending on detergents, cleaning chemicals, water and sewer services and water heating.

Solution: Ozonated laundry system for superior cleanliness and lower costs

After learning more about the facility’s needs, Georgia Power recommended an ozone laundry system. Ozone (O3) is produced on-site and added to wash and rinse water. It can replace nearly all of the detergents and other traditional laundry chemicals used for cleaning, drastically reducing expenses. Only a small amount of supplemental enzyme-based cleaner is added for certain types of oils and soils. Additional benefits include:

• Lower water heating costs – cleans effectively at lower temperature than traditional laundry chemicals (90-100°F versus 140-150°F)
• Unlike traditional cleaning chemicals, it leaves no residue in laundered items or discharged wash and rinse water – meaning less water and time required for rinsing, reducing water and sewer expenses, and also improving production by shortening laundering cycles.
• Ozone has exceptional disinfecting and deodorizing properties that produce a fresher smelling, more sanitary wash than traditional laundering methods.
• Superior sanitizing and deodorizing due to ozone’s ability to destroy bacteria and viruses
• Increases fabric life – requires less mechanical action and lower wash temperatures
• Helps keep laundry areas cooler than traditional systems

Results: Big savings on chemicals, water and more

• 60-70% reduction in chemical costs
• 90% reduction in water heating costs
• 20% reduction in water and sewer fees expenses
• Improved productivity with reduced washing and sorting times (lower wash temperatures mean less pre-sorting)

Based on these savings, the nursing home expects to recoup its investment in three years

Customer: Local school planning major interior renovation

Challenge: How can we use a remodeling project as an opportunity to upgrade equipment and reduce costs?

Solution: Relamping 2,000+ fixtures covering 90,000 square feet

Our customer’s Georgia Power representative recommended that the school take advantage of the remodeling effort and replace old incandescent lighting with low-watt fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts. The school district replaced all classroom and media center fixtures with energy-saving 32-watt T-8 fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts, which together convert power to light more efficiently.

Results: 30-40% drop in lighting and cooling costs

In addition to significant savings and a reduced AC load with cooler-burning fluorescent lamps, relamping provided other benefits including:

• Brighter, more comfortable rooms
• Reduced glare
• No annoying buzzing sounds – the electronic ballasts operate quietly

The district has now retrofitted its other schools as part of ongoing renovation projects. The savings have freed up thousands of dollars in essential funds that can now be used in other areas.