Summary: Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today the launch of the Save Energy Now® LEADER Program, which will provide technical assistance and resources to companies that pledge significant improvements in industrial energy efficiency.  At an event this afternoon, 32 companies representing a broad spectrum of the U.S. industrial sector will join with DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Cathy Zoi to sign a voluntary pledge to reduce their industrial energy intensity by 25 percent over the next decade.

The LEADER program is a new component of the existing and successful Save Energy Now initiative through which companies partner with DOE to conduct energy audits and assessments designed to identify the opportunities for energy and cost savings in the companies’ operations. Participating businesses also have access to tools and training to implement recommendations designed to help reduce their energy use and lower operating costs. Over 2,000 plants received energy assessments through Save Energy Now from 2006 to 2009.  To date, those assessments have identified opportunities for $1.3 billion in identified cost savings, 119 trillion Btu of natural gas savings, and 11.2 million metric tons of CO2 savings.

The companies signing the pledge today include:

• 3M (St. Paul, MN)
• AT&T (Dallas, TX)
• BPM, Inc. (Peshtigo, WI)
• Bridgestone (McMinnville, TN)
• Briggs & Stratton (Wauwatosa, WI)
• Cummins, Inc. (Columbus, IN)
• Danfoss (Baltimore, MD)
• Didion Milling (Johnson Creek, WI)
• The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, MI)
• Flambeau River Papers (Park Falls, WI)
• Honeywell (Morristown, NJ)
• Ingersoll Rand/Trane (Piscataway, NJ)
• Intel (Santa Clara, CA)
• JR Simplot (Boise, ID)
• Manitowoc Grey Iron Foundry (Manitowoc, WI)
• Mohawk Industries (Dalton, GA)
• Neenah Foundry (Neenah, WI)
• Nissan North America (Smyrna, TN)
• Osram Sylvania (Danvers, MA)
• Owens Corning (Toledo, OH)
• PPG Industries (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Quad/Graphics, Inc. (Sussex, WI)
• Schneider Electric (Palatine, IL)
• Serious Materials (Sunnyvale, CA)
• Shaw Industries (Dalton, GA)
• Sherwin-Williams, Richmond (Richmond, KY)
• Spirax Sarco, Inc. (Blythewood, SC)
• Thilmany Papers (Kaukauna, WI)
• ThyssenKrupp Waupaca (Waupaca, WI)
• United Technologies Corp. (Hartford, CT)
• Verso Paper (Memphis, TN)
• Volvo Trucks, Inc. (Dublin, VA)

Source: December 2, 2009 DOE Press Release

More Information:

• The full press release is at http://energy.gov/news2009/8328.htm
• More information on the LEADER program is at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow/leader.html

Prepared by: This message was distributed by Kellen Mahoney, who may be reached at e-mail: kmahoney@eetnews.com