Industrial Customer Case Studies in an Era of Smart Manufacturing

In order to increase industrial customer participation levels in energy efficiency (EE) programs, which often suffer from low participation rates, successful utilities and program administrators have adopted program designs that better meet the unique needs of the industrial customer. This paper provides results from two case studies of the business value brought by ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs to different industrial energy users. The paper discusses how the business value of ratepayer programs for industrial customers tends to increase as relationships mature and newer continuous energy improvement and smart manufacturing initiatives are taken up, expanding from simpler projects. The paper concludes with recommendations on how other industries might best obtain similar value from their local ratepayer-funded programs, and on how ratepayer program administrators might create better value for industrial customers, expanding their participation.