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Success Story: Vermont Pure Springs, Inc.

Partner Information

Vermont Pure Springs, Inc.
70,000 Sq. Feet
200 Employees
Annual cash savings: $ 8,550.00
Annual kWh savings: 77,691
Payback period (approx.): 5 Months
Prevented 45,012 pounds of pollution

Service and Product Provider

Efficiency Vermont
255 Champlain St., Burlington, VT 05401

Vermont Pure Springs, Inc. saves approximately $8,550.00 annually on energy bills!

For many years the citizens of Vermont have happily boasted that the population of cows within the state outnumber the humans. As more and more Americans find the Green Mountain State irresistible, the ratio of humans to cattle has become closer to 2 to 1. Regardless, Vermont is still the highest per capita milk producing state in the union. With such a strong agricultural focus in Vermont, no one has to warn the residents about the importance of maintaining the environmental quality of the region.

Protecting the environment and conserving energy are of paramount importance to the economic viability of businesses in Vermont. Vermont Pure Springs, Inc., a bottler and distributor of natural spring water, is no stranger to this idea. Vermont Pure Springs, Inc. has been leading by example and showing neighboring businesses that reducing energy use has a direct correlation to environmental quality and, ultimately the success of their industry.

Vermont Pure Springs, Inc. manages a 70,000-square-foot production facility that operates 20 hours per day, six days per week during the summer, and 16 hours per day, five days per week in the winter. The plant function is to pump, sterilize, and package its product. On an ordinary day, more than 500 bottles of natural spring water are processed per minute, and distributed nationwide.

Because the energy needs of this plant are immense, plant manager Dave Bullis evaluates the energy costs of the plant on a wide scale. “In addition to lowering costs, increasing energy efficiency helps improve productivity as well as increase employee morale — and that’s good for the bottom line.”

Efficiency Vermont suggested that Vermont Pure Springs install an energy-saving, high-efficiency air compressor. Annually, the new compressor reduces Vermont Pure Springs’ energy bill by approximately $8,550, and reduces their energy use by 77,691 kilowatts. Additionally, Efficiency Vermont provided Vermont Pure Springs with a cash incentive to install the new compressor. The feasibility of upgrading the buildings lighting and motors is presently being evaluated.

The goal of Efficiency Vermont is to help companies and homeowners reduce energy costs through a more efficient use of power. Funded through a $28 million dollar, three-year contract with the state, Efficiency Vermont helps companies like Vermont Pure Springs compete in an industry of larger companies.

Blair Hamilton, Managing Director of Efficiency Vermont said, “We will work with businesses to review their plans, recommend efficiency upgrades, and again, we have financial incentives to bring down the cost and increase the payback of higher efficiency choices.”

”We work on everything from small convenience stores and retailers to large manufacturers and ski areas. We have probably provided rebates as high as $50,000 to $70, 000 for major projects because their savings are so great. And saving energy is a good thing for Vermont ratepayers, because it means the utilities won’t have to go out and enter into expensive power supply contracts which are going to raise rates.”

In the early 1990s, there was renewed public interest in the energy industry. “People were thinking more about environmental concerns and the interrelationship of energy production and the environment. Electricity prices were going up. Industry stopped making power plants,” says Hamilton. Subsequently, “least-cost planning” was developed by regulators in order to lower prices. They said, “if it is cheaper to save a kilowatt-hour than generate one, shouldn’t that be what we’re doing,” explained Hamilton.

Least-Cost Planning (or Integrated Planning) is an approach to resource planning that considers demand management solutions equally with strategies to increase capacity. Additionally, least-cost planning considers all significant impacts (costs and benefits), including non-market impacts, and involves the public in developing and evaluating alternatives.

Presently, “least-cost planning is in the Vermont statutes. The regulators determined that the utilities’ responsibility was to include savings as well as providing,” said Hamilton. And since the early 90’s utilities have been required to create and file least-cost plans that include cost-effective energy saving strategies.

Vermont Pure Springs and Efficiency Vermont are helping implement this state policy of energy efficiency and environmental protection by proving it is also good business. Small businesses like Vermont Pure Springs are respected throughout their communities as examples of environmental stewardship, while increasing their competitive advantage though the use of energy efficient products.