Grocery & Refrigeration

Since 2002, PECI's nationally recognized grocery and refrigeration programs have enabled nearly 100 utilities to garner substantial energy savings. We focus our efforts on facilities with commercial refrigeration, including grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants. Key to our success is our ability to develop long-standing relationships with customers and stakeholders, from manufacturers and contractors to trade associations. Proprietary tools, such as our innovative GrocerSmart® energy auditing and modeling tool, also play a major role in helping these programs thrive.

EnergySmart Grocer
The EnergySmart Grocer program provides no-cost energy assessments, technical assistance and financial incentives to supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants and other business seeking to lower their operating costs through high-efficiency retrofits. With the help of EnergySmart Grocer, participants can significantly reduce their energy use in the areas of refrigeration, lighting, HVAC and food service equipment.

Field Energy Analysts (FEAs) work closely with store owners, contractors and other stakeholders to provide a comprehensive suite of services that includes:

     No-Cost energy audit
     Site-specific energy savings analysis
     Recommendations for energy-efficient upgrades
     Direct installation of quick payback measures
     Contractor participation
     Preferred contractor management
     Technical consultation
     Financial rebates and rebate application assistance
 
Click here for more information.

EnergySmart Jobs
PECI developed the EnergySmart Jobs program to answer California’s immediate need for job creation, long-term energy savings and new technology adoption. By working to make commercial facilities throughout California more energy-efficient, EnergySmart Jobs helped businesses save energy and money, while building a new sustainable workforce in the process. The EnergySmart Jobs Program was an initiative of Energy Upgrade California; administered by PECI and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the U.S. Department of Energy and California Energy Commission.
 
Specifically, the EnergySmart Jobs Program trained energy surveyors from the California Conservation Corps and sent them out to conduct energy surveys of commercial retail outlets. Participating contractors then worked with these stores to install energy efficiency retrofits based on opportunities identified in the survey. Finally, the program provided rebates and incentives to help lower the cost of these retrofit projects.

GrocerSmart Energy Auditing and Simulation Tool
GrocerSmart is a tablet computer-based audit and energy simulation tool that is specifically designed to perform on-site audits of grocery, convenience, and facilities that have commercial refrigeration systems. The comprehensive software produces an Energy Savings Report that recommends facility-specific energy saving measures for refrigeration, lighting, food service and HVAC measures. It provides customized estimates of energy savings, installed costs, rebates, and simple payback.
 
The estimated energy savings are based on DOE-2 parametric runs and engineering calculations that account for many variables including the facility's particular climate zone, compressor configuration, condenser type, condenser degradation factors, and hours of operation. GrocerSmart can be customized with a region's climatic data, requiring only minor adjustments for use in most service territories.
 
GrocerSmart is exclusively available to utility's participating in the EnergySmart Grocer programs. Contact us for more information about our grocery programs.