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Mid East Info
27-06-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
Emerson Receives Award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency at Milwaukee Facility - Middle East Business News and Information
Wisconsin state energy efficiency program recognizes company's Appleton Group foundry for outstanding commitment to saving energy Emerson today announced that its Appleton Group iron casting facility has received a 2025 Energy Excellence Award from Focus on Energy®. The award recognizes companies in Wisconsin that go above and beyond basic energy efficiency solutions, both within their own organizations and those they support. As one of 11 recipients, the South Milwaukee foundry proves how energy-efficient industrial facilities can reduce costs, contribute to a healthier environment and strengthen local economies. 'Emerson's foundry shows that even energy-intensive operations can be leaders in energy efficiency,' said Erin Soman, managing director of Focus on Energy. 'This award isn't just about saving energy – it's about people coming together to think differently about how we use energy and what that means for Wisconsin's future.' Focus on Energy is the statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy program for businesses and residents in Wisconsin. It offers a range of rebates and incentives for energy-saving technologies as well as services that help organizations reduce energy use and costs. The Appleton foundry, which manufactures electrical fittings, enclosures and other cast products for electrical infrastructure, has worked with the Focus on Energy initiative since 2017. In that time, the partnership has made it possible for the foundry to identify, evaluate, design and implement many successful energy efficiency and utility cost-savings projects. These updates include new controls on its makeup air units, the replacement of channel furnaces with cordless induction melting furnaces and the replacement of over 800 fluorescent lights with Appleton industrial LED fixtures. Combined, the energy improvements save the facility over 10,000 megawatt-hours (MWh), 65,000 million British thermal units (MMBtu) and $1 million in energy costs annually. The team also identified nearly $350,000 in energy-related incentives throughout this period. The foundry team's commitment to optimizing energy efficiency has cut the facility's total energy consumption and emissions by about a third since 2017, drastically reducing its own emissions and operating expenses. These reductions are especially significant given that the century-old foundry had been among the largest energy-consuming facilities across all of Emerson. 'The Energy Efficiency Excellence award highlights the dedication of our team to improve our own environmental impact, support our cost reductions in Wisconsin's energy system and work with external organizations to move toward a more sustainable future,' said John Schuster, plant manager at Emerson's discrete automation business. 'What we've achieved in South Milwaukee is a success story for the Emerson portfolio, as well as for the castings industry overall. It's an honor to be acknowledged in this way.' Left to right: Doug Presny, CleanTech Partners; Joe Pater, Wisconsin Public Service Commission; Paul Kling, Focus on Energy; John Schuster, Emerson; Bob Axtell, Emerson; Bill Bolhuis, Franklin Energy; Chris Larson, Chris Jansen, Wisconsin State Senator, District 7; Jim Garbowski, WEC Energy Group. (Courtesy of Emerson)
Mid East Info
23-06-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
Emerson Foundry Receives 2025 Better Project Award from Department of Energy - Middle East Business News and Information
Automation leader's South Milwaukee plant recognized for cutting natural gas usage by 20% with an innovative building management system Emerson was recognized with the 2025 Better Project Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at the Better Plants Summit on May 1 in Washington D.C. The award highlights Emerson's success in achieving significant heating and energy savings with a new building management system (BMS) at its South Milwaukee foundry. The foundry, which manufactures electrical fittings, enclosures and other cast products for electrical infrastructure under the Appleton Group brand, has historically been one of the largest energy-consuming operations within the Emerson portfolio. By implementing a new BMS to optimize comfort heating at the site, Emerson was able to reduce natural gas consumption by 20%, nearly 13,000 MMBtu, and mitigate 9% of the foundry's entire emissions footprint. 'At our foundry, we've built a legacy of innovation and continuous improvement to deliver best-in-class solutions for our customers across industries,' said John Schuster, foundry plant manager with Emerson's discrete automation business. 'That same dedication drives our efforts to minimize our environmental impact. Receiving this recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy affirms our progress in creating a more energy-efficient future.' The Emerson foundry was among 16 other plants to receive the Better Project Award in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in energy efficiency. The DOE's Better Plants Program works with leading U.S. manufacturers and commercial building operators to set ambitious energy, water, waste and emissions reduction goals. By partnering with industries, the program aims to help leading manufacturers boost efficiency, increase resilience and strengthen economic competitiveness. The new BMS now enables precise control and monitoring of comfort heating and cooling systems. By optimizing this equipment, the facility has substantially reduced both gas and electricity usage by eliminating long periods of overheating that were accentuated by radiant heat from foundry operations, and by reducing temperature setpoints outside of operational hours. This project was supported by Focus on Energy®, Wisconsin utilities' statewide program for energy efficiency, which provided technical oversight of project scoping and system design. Focus on Energy also helped the foundry capitalize on a custom utility project grant that greatly boosted project economics, saving ratepayers money by mitigating the cost of future infrastructure buildout. The BMS helped Emerson realize $127,000 year-over-year savings in natural gas costs at a net project cost of $118,000, resulting in an effective payback period of under one year. The solution also reduced total site energy consumption by 10%, from 130,000 1,000,000 British thermal units (MMBtu) to 117,000 MMBtu. 'By optimizing our use of heating energy at our South Milwaukee site, we've greatly reduced energy cost, providing a competitive edge to American production of iron castings while also driving a significant reduction in Emerson's difficult-to-abate scope 1 emissions footprint,' said Schuster. 'Now, we're able to more efficiently and effectively serve our customers with trusted Appleton solutions that make electrical installations safer, more productive and more reliable.' The Appleton brand includes a broad range of rugged electrical solutions for customers working in industrial and hazardous environments around the world. The Appleton portfolio includes solutions for electrical construction, lighting, industrial power, power controls and connectivity, industrial heat tracing, heating cables and more. The South Milwaukee foundry that produces Appleton products has previously been recognized for excellence. In 2019, the facility earned the 2019 Plant Engineering Award by the American Foundry Society for innovation and commitment to continuous improvement.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
There are more efficient ways for We Energies to power WI. Start with saving.
Advanced energy resources provide efficient, reliable and low-cost alternatives to expensive fossil fuel generation, and they are ready to help power Wisconsin's grid and meet rising electricity demand. To keep energy costs affordable for current residents and businesses looking to expand in the Badger State, Wisconsin's leaders and utilities need to leverage these clean energy tools. Yet, We Energies has proposed spending more than $1.9 billion on new natural gas facilities. The most expensive part of its plan involves a $1.2 billion natural gas plant in Oak Creek. The company itself says this plant will only be used 10-20% of the time. In this proposal, WEC downplayed energy efficiency measures and other modern means of addressing energy demand, leaving important tools on the table and failing to offer solutions that would be more efficient and would help keep costs down for residents. Wisconsin needs reliable power throughout the year. Fortunately, lower-cost, clean energy technologies and demand-response and efficiency programs are ready to meet Wisconsin's growing energy demand. We Energies should embrace these market-ready, commercially available technologies that maintain grid stability, curb rate increases and attract business development. Energy efficiency is the simplest, lowest cost way to take a bite out of the growing demand for energy. Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program represents the minimum that utilities must do to reduce energy demand through energy efficiency. The Focus on Energy program is a baseline for utilizing clean, efficient energy resources. However, in defense of its billion-dollar proposal, We Energies insists that it should not be expected to promote energy efficiency beyond the minimum required by law. There are resources already found in homes and businesses that can be utilized with modern technology to help efficiently meet the needs of the electric grid. For instance, modern thermostats, modern water heaters and rooftop solar panels with battery storage can be operated in a coordinated manner to help meet near-term energy demand, while also allowing the device owners to be compensated for helping defer or potentially even eliminate the need for costly gas projects. Opinion: WI is having renewable energy transformation. Natural gas plays vital role. While it takes years to construct one new gas plant, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a January 2025 report that programs utilizing these modern technologies can be implemented in just six months. Around the country, including in Arizona, California, Texas and Vermont, utilities are benefiting from this technology. Yet, when asked whether it had considered such customer-friendly methods of meeting demand before proposing its $1.2 billion Oak Creek plan, the company responded that it had not considered this lower-cost option. Unfortunately, the billion-dollar plan for Oak Creek downplays modern solutions and focuses on outdated, less efficient methods that maximize financial benefits for the utility company rather than embrace innovation that benefits customers. Rather than increase exposure to volatile gas costs, it should take this opportunity to leverage existing clean energy resources to meet projected demand more affordably and on a faster timeline than that proposed for the Oak Creek facility. The importance of controlling costs is apparent from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin's 2024-2030 Strategic Energy Assessment, a biannual report about the state's electricity sector. According to the report, Wisconsin's average 2022 electric rate for residential, commercial and industrial customers exceeded the Midwest regional average. If the state wants to retain and attract business, it cannot continue to let rates rise unchecked. Opinion: Building new natural gas plants in Wisconsin will strap customers with big bills So far, consumers have driven the adoption of these technologies because of their sustainable attributes and cost-saving benefits to individual households and businesses. We Energies is not taking full advantage of them but should moving forward, including in Oak Creek. A combination of advanced energy resources, ranging from modern thermostats and water heaters to utility-scale wind and solar installations with battery energy storage, can reduce the need for billion-dollar investments in natural gas projects. Opinion: We Energies Kenosha County power plant threatens public health and environment While limited new gas generation may be necessary, there is no reason for Wisconsin electric utilities to focus on yesterday's less efficient technology to meet tomorrow's challenges. The growing electric demand the utility anticipates in its service area can be met through a portfolio that includes affordable renewables and a suite of energy efficiency and demand response programs that are ready to deploy, well tested in the market, and will cost less than the proposed gas facilities. Emma Heins is a Wisconsin-based Policy Principal with Advanced Energy United, a trade association for businesses that are lowering consumer costs, creating millions of new jobs, and providing the full range of clean, efficient, and reliable energy and transportation solutions. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: We Energies billion dollar gas plants aren't the best option | Opinion
