Encana’s natural gas processing facilities near Rifle, Colo., and the MillerCoors Brewery in Golden, Colo., shared top state honors for reductions in industrial energy use in an awards ceremony held at the Colorado capitol September 27. The ceremony recognized the achievements of participants in the Colorado Industrial Energy Challenge. Three other companies, including Anheuser-Busch in Fort Collins, Carestream Health in Windsor and Corden Pharma in Boulder, were recognized with Excellence in Energy Efficiency awards at the event.
Together, the top five companies saved $7.6 million from 2010-2011 by reducing their energy consumption by an average of 14.4 percent. Approximately 72 percent of the energy saved by the five top awardees was electric and the other 28 percent was fuel savings (natural gas or coal). The companies reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 115,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of removing 26,000 cars from Colorado highways.
In addition to the top five awardees, eight companies that joined the program in the past year were recognized for committing to set five-year goals for improved energy efficiency at their facilities. The companies are:
- Arapahoe Basin (ski resort, Summit county)
- Atmel (semiconductors, Colorado Springs)
- City of Fort Collins, Municipal water treatment facility
- City of Fort Collins, Wastewater treatment facility
- City of Greeley, Wastewater treatment facility
- Climax Molybdenum, Henderson Mine
- King Soopers Bakery, Denver
- Owens-Corning Asphalt, Denver
The winners were selected from a total of 29 participating companies by a panel of industry judges. The Colorado Energy Office funds the program.