Boston, MA — The Motor Decisions Matter campaign is not just about motors anymore. After 12 years of promoting the benefits of sound motor management in commercial and industrial facilities, the MDM campaign is increasing its scope to motor-driven systems — a savings opportunity that is worth billions of dollars.
The campaign will promote sound motor system management practices that help customers save energy and cut costs. One campaign sponsor, MidAmerican Energy Company, worked with an industrial rubber manufacturer to assess their system, which included a 1,500-horsepower motor controlled by an electromagnetic eddy-style clutch that powers an extruder. After replacing the clutch with a 24-pulse frequency drive, the plant saved 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, which amounted to more than $40,000 in annual utility bill savings. The plant also reduced annual maintenance costs by 240 man-hours.
Over the next three years, the campaign sponsors will design messaging, tools, and resources to promote decision making based on life cycle costs and proactive planning for common motor systems. For customers, motor systems offer many savings opportunities based on motor management practices. For example, few industrial managers are aware that electricity, operations, and maintenance costs of a typical compressed air system account for 88 percent of life cycle costs. The adoption of motor system management practices can lead to significant financial and operational benefits, including reduced downtime and improved productivity.
MidAmerican Energy is a long-standing supporter of the MDM campaign, which the Consortium for Energy Efficiency established in 2001. “We are excited about the campaign’s new focus on motor system management,” said Dave McCammant, product manager, MidAmerican Energy. “We look forward to leveraging the campaign resources, such as calculation tools, to promote motor systems savings to our customers.”
The MDM campaign brings together unique, binational network of industrial efficiency experts, including 16 local and regional energy efficiency programs, the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation, representing more than 1,400 Canadian companies and trade associations, and the Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA), representing about 1,900 electromechanical repair, service, and sales firms around the world.
"EASA values the MDM campaign’s binational footprint and its credibility with commercial and industrial customers,” said Linda Raynes, president and CEO of EASA. “EASA is a founding sponsor of the MDM campaign and is proud to continue our support. We remain committed to advancing motor management and are excited about the new focus on motor systems, which adds controls, mechanical drive trains, and driven loads, such as pumps, fans and compressors."
MDM campaign sponsors include Advanced Energy, Alliant Energy, Ameren Illinois, Avista, BC Hydro, Bonneville Power Administration, Danfoss, Electrical Apparatus Service Association, Efficiency Vermont, Long Island Power Authority, MidAmerican Energy Company, National Grid, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation, New York Power Authority, Pacific Gas & Electric, Regal Beloit, and Xcel Energy.
For more information, visit the MDM website at www.motorsmatter.org and the CEE website at www.cee1.org.
