Cascade Energy, Portland, Ore., joined forces with Lineage Logistics, a Colton, Calif.-based warehousing and logistics company sponsored by Bay Grove Capital LLC, San Francisco, to implement a company-wide energy management program.

The program expands on successful pilot projects Cascade and Lineage have completed at select sites that already garnered significant cost savings. Now, Lineage plans to implement a 3-year energy program at all of its 111 facilities.

“This 3-year plan delivers the program, platform and expertise (PPE) that will drive even more energy cost savings, improve our competitive position and make an important investment in the skills and capability of our greatest energy asset—our people,” says Bill Hendricksen, chief executive officer of Lineage Logistics.

At the program level, required elements include:

• Executive support and commitment.
• Site-specific energy goals, with a company-wide target of 10% improvement over the next three years and a 10-year goal of 25% improvement.
• Dedicated roles and responsibilities for program implementation at each site.
• Program performance monitoring through energy key performance indicators.

The “platform” involves energy efficiency software that provides a common interface across all facilities. The platform will incorporate real-time energy use, production and weather data to provide visibility on true energy performance.

Cascade will provide support for the “expertise” aspect of the program in the form of on-site energy efficiency tune-ups that identify and implement low/no-cost energy savings opportunities, training on refrigeration system best practices and technical support over the 3-year program to help facilitate continuous improvement.

“Lineage is taking an aggressive and comprehensive approach to energy management,” says Marcus Wilcox, chief executive officer of Cascade. “We’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lineage team to strategically control energy costs that typically are second only to labor in the industry.”