Three dairy farms and a floral growing operation have been given the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Energy Management. McMillan Farms of Marshfield, Peterson’s Dairy of Lena, Rosendale Dairy of Pickett and Floral Plant Growers of Denmark are being recognized for their efforts to increase energy efficiency.
Since 2009, McMillan Farms of Marshfield has saved more than 6,000 kWh of electricity annually. To reduce energy use, McMillan Farms upgraded a low-efficiency continuous cross-flow grain dryer to a high-efficiency mixed-flow grain dryer. These efforts add up to $11,000 in annual energy cost savings.
Since 2008, Peterson’s Dairy LLC of Lena has saved more than 147,000 kWh of electricity annually. To reduce energy use, Peterson’s Dairy LLC installed a plate heat exchanger on its milk pipeline; added a variable-frequency drive on its milk vacuum pumps; and is utilizing a plate heat exchanger on its well water pre-cooler. These efforts add up to $11,000 in annual energy cost savings.
Since 2009, Rosendale Dairy of Pickett has saved more than 3.6 million kWh of electricity and 6,000 therms of natural gas annually. To reduce energy use, Rosendale Dairy utilizes heat-recovery tanks; invested in plate heat exchangers on its milk pipelines; added variable-frequency drives on its dairy vacuum pumps and milk transfer pumps; upgraded to energy-efficient lighting; installed an energy efficient water heater; and installed energy-efficient livestock waterers. These efforts add up to $288,000 in annual energy cost savings
Since 2008, Floral Plant Growers, LLC of Denmark has saved more than 144,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 211,000 therms of natural gas annually. To reduce energy use in its greenhouses, Floral Plant Growers, LLC installed power-vented unit heaters and replaced double poly film roof glazing with double infrared (IR) poly film; upgraded to energy-efficient lighting; and installed occupancy sensors. Floral Plant Growers, LLC is also keeping up with preventive maintenance, utilizing thermal blankets, and reducing air infiltration. These efforts add up to $240,000 in annual energy cost savings.
The four worked in partnership with Focus on Energy, Alliant Energy, Marshfield Utilities, Oconto Electric Co-op, WE Energies and Wisconsin Public Service. Ken Williams with Focus on Energy says, “The efforts of these four agribusinesses combined will save enough energy in one year to power more than 600 Wisconsin homes for a year and are equivalent to offsetting more than 11,550 barrels of oil from being burned thus eliminating 9.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere.”
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