AEP OHIO CASE STUDY
Energy Efficiency Becomes a Way of Life at Cooper Farms
Family-Owned Business
Has Grown Steadily Over
Seven Decades
Cooper Farms has seen a steady 10 percent
growth in recent years that has led it to build
new facilities that include energy efficient
lighting and other measures.
Industry
Agriculture
Building type
Processing Facility
Measures implemented
Lighting
Process Compressed Air
Total project cost
$85,000
Projected annual energy savings
330,490 kWh
Incentives paid
$22,080
Payback period without AEP Ohio incentive
Approximately 3.2 years
Payback period with AEP Ohio incentive
Approximately 2.4 years
Program Type
Prescriptive
Project Summary
After having its Van Wert (Ohio)
production and processing facility
leveled by a tornado in 2002, a
resilient Cooper Farms re-opened
the doors to its 50,000 square foot
facility in June 2003 having
installed 450 watt metal halide
lamps on the 18-foot high ceilings.
In the meantime, thanks to 10
percent annual growth, Cooper
Farms built two additional buildings
with efficient T5 fluorescent lamps.
According to Brad Alspaugh,
Maintenance Project Engineer, the
time was right to retrofit those
inefficient metal halides thanks in
large part to the Business
Incentives Program from AEP Ohio.
“We received regular updates from
our AEP rep and we knew that
there were electrical contractors
looking for work,” said Alspaugh, a
17-year employee at Cooper
Farms. “But the incentives really
pushed us to do this project. They
helped the return on investment
look a lot better.”
Over the span of about two months,
electricians from Sarka Electric,
Plumbing & Heating installed 162
efficient T5 lamps and a variable
speed drive (VSD) on the 200 HP
air compressor which resulted in an
estimated annual savings of
330,490 kWh and more than
$22,000 in incentives paid to
Cooper Farms.
“This is a family-owned business,”
said Alspaugh of Cooper Farms
which was established in 1938.
“When you do have money to
spend and are going to re-invest in
the business, you have to spend
that money wisely. Investing in
energy efficiency is a smart thing to
do because of the long-term
benefits.”
Cooper Farms is a fully integrated
turkey company which began as a
hatchery in Oakwood, Ohio more
than 70 years ago. Along the way,
it acquired feed mills, grow-out
farms, a processing facility and a
cooked meats plant. It is at the
cooked meats facility where the
recent energy efficiency measures
were implemented.
Because of the company’s growth
since 2003 and the addition of new
facilities – a 30,000 square-foot
plant built in 2008 and a 50,000
square-foot plant in 2010 – it’s hard
for Alspaugh to quantify exact
month-to-month savings. It is easy
to see, however, that a change has
taken place at Cooper Farms that
will serve the company well into the
future.
(Continued)
Sarka Electric & Plumbing was able to use
Cooper Farms own equipment to change out
lights on the 18-foot high ceilings in its cooked
meats facility.
“We look for energy efficiency
opportunities in everything we do. We
know we are going to save money up
front and down the road.”
-
Brad Alspaugh
Maintenance Project Engineer
Cooper Farms
“Across the board, we are looking
for more energy efficiency
opportunities. We do more
research now than ever before
when we are looking for new
equipment or other additions to our
business,” added Alspaugh. “We
have also created an energy
efficiency team with representatives
from every part of the business. We
talk about energy management
issues and ways to save money by
running a smarter company.”
Business Challenges
The primary obstacle to installing
energy efficiency measures for
Cooper Farms was its production
schedule and the desire to
introduce as few ‘foreign’ materials
as possible into the processing
facility. The electricians from Sarka
Electric logged some odd hours,
sometimes coming in at two or
three in the morning and on
weekends to install the new lamps.
“Sarka’s crew knocked out the
installation of the lights quickly in
spite of having to schedule and reschedule their work around us,”
said Alspaugh. “They were able to
use our equipment, our lifts, which
helped. It’s important that we not
introduce anything into the
processing facility that could affect
the quality of our product.”
A brighter and cooler work environment – in
addition to reduced energy usage – is the result of
the T5 lighting retrofit in Cooper Farms’ cooked
meats processing facility.
The VSD also required a weekend
installation because the air
compressor could not be shut down
during regular business hours. The
air compressor serves the main
processing building and is required
to maintain a steady 90 psi
even as the load demand
changes as equipment starts
and stops.
Future Plans
Virgil Cooper founded the
business bearing his name. It is
run today by his children Jim,
Gary and Dianne, along with
several grandchildren. Cooper
Farms is a fully integrated
turkey company that began as a
hatchery in Oakwood, Ohio. It
has grown strategically as it
acquired feed mills, grow-out
farms, a processing facility and
a cooked meats plant. Cooper
Farms also does some hog
farming as a part of its
business.
Energy efficiency is ingrained in
the company and is part of its
future. Cooper Farms has
completed lighting and VSD
projects in addition to the new,
energy efficient facilities it has
built. Seeing those projects
succeed over several years has
given Alspaugh perspective.
“We look for energy efficiency
opportunities in everything we
do. We know we are going to
save money up front and save
money down the road,”
concluded Alspaugh. “That’s all
possible because of the
incentive program from AEP
Ohio. It’s a no-brainer, really.
AEP is giving your business
money for projects it should be
doing any way to save energy
and save money.”
About AEP Ohio’s energy efficiency programs for businesses
AEP Ohio’s Business Incentives program provides cash incentives to help
business customers purchase and install energy efficient equipment. Prescriptive
incentives are available for common commercial and industrial measures including
lighting, HVAC, motors and drives, refrigeration and food preparation and storage
equipment. Custom incentives are available for process improvements and other
measures not covered through prescriptive incentives. For more information, visit
AEPOhio.com/Incentives or call 1-877-607-0739.
AEPOhio.com/Incentives
877-607-0739
Disclaimer: AEP Ohio does not guarantee the
energy savings and does not make any
warranties associated with the measures eligible
for incentives under this program.