There are many contributors to a company operating at peak efficiency- from staff to technical to financial constraints, etc… The barriers to a company’s facilities operating efficiently are evident when the above factors are not in balance. While most organizations operate profitably despite their electrical utility operational inefficiencies, the burden of energy waste, lost income, and equipment fatigue become an innumerable expense.
According to a study conducted by the “Alliance to Save Energy”, which researched the organizational aspects of industrial energy efficiency for more than five years, they have identified several barriers to energy efficiency:
- Misunderstanding of business value. The term “energy efficiency” is easily confused with other concepts. (a) Enlisting an energy marketer to purchase fuel or supplier changes will help even out energy price fluctuations, but has zero impact on efficiency of energy use. (b) Consuming renewable energy sources such as wood byproducts is an alternative to fossil fuel, but this, too, is equally susceptible to waste. Investing to operate efficiently is to view it as a business opportunity that reduces expenses and builds revenue.
- Lack of staff and management awareness. Electricity cycling through your facility is an invisible process that few know the inner workings of. Your facility Power Factor rating is “invisible” also because most companies don’t know what it is. A simple energy audit of your utility bill will tell us how efficient your facility is operating and if a Power Factor correction would benefit you.
- Cross-departmental cooperation. A company’s main priority is to make a product and get it out the door- not to save energy. Staff are united around the goal of successfully selling a product, which is all tied to production. However, various departments may compete against each other in the budget process. For example, an energy efficiency project might be expensed from maintenance, while savings accrue to the production budget. When departments do not cooperate, waste is allowed to continue. Unless top management takes action, energy efficiency is a duty that occupies the blank space on the personnel chart—the space where there are no boxes.
- Lack of resources. Because of limited time, money and skills, and with management accountability sometimes tied to short-term results, operational inefficiencies continue to grow unnoticed
- Complacency. It is easy for managers to be lulled into complacency about energy consumption and expense. After all, inefficiencies don’t develop overnight- it is usually a process where, slowly and exponentially, operations and efficiency become unbalanced and the increase in waste and expense continues on a seemingly consistent/predictable graph.
Energy efficiency is not flashy like solar panels or windmills, but is championed by innovators, and can be achieved at a fraction of the cost. However, decision-makers that dismiss energy efficiency overlook opportunities to grow revenue through a Power Factor correction that changes the redirection of energy waste away from your facility before it enters and you are charged for it.
Contact us to receive a Free Energy audit of your facility; copies of a few months of your recent utility statements is all that is needed!
