PORTLAND, Ore. — October 28, 2014 — Energy Trust of Oregon has launched a set of new videos to inspire Oregon manufacturers to save energy by participating in its Strategic Energy Management, SEM, initiative.

SEM helps industrial facilities gain significant energy savings through a focus on modifying business practices and creating culture change around how the facilities view, save or waste energy. They can be viewed at www.energytrust.org/industrialSEM.

Energy Trust provides support and technical resources to help industrial companies take a holistic approach to managing energy use to improve energy performance and sustain energy and cost savings over time.

The pair of videos feature case studies from two Oregon companies that have implemented SEM successfully within their own facilities. Managers and employees from Purdy Professional Painting Tools, located in Portland, Ore., and Kettle Foods in Salem, Ore., share their own stories of how they worked with Energy Trust to improve their energy management plans and learn to save energy and money by focusing on operations and behavior change.

Through its participation in SEM, Purdy Professional Painting Tools, a division of Sherwin-Williams and a manufacturer of paintbrushes and other tools, was able to reduce its energy use intensity by 10 percent. Through operational efficiencies and changes in behavior, Purdy saved more than 240,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, or $16,000 in energy cost savings. Energy Trust provided nearly $11,000 in cash incentives toward the cost of the energy-saving improvements.

Kettle Foods, a division of Diamond Foods and a manufacturer of natural potato chips, has reduced its energy use intensity by 13 percent. It earned an incentive of more than $23,000 toward energy-saving improvements, and has been able to save more than 1.1 million kWh of electricity — approximately $70,000 in energy cost savings.

Participation in SEM requires a one-year commitment for the first year of work with Energy Trust. More than 100 industrial companies have become involved in various phases of Energy Trust’s SEM initiative and are generating energy savings of 2 to 20 percent each year.

Energy Trust of Oregon is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping utility customers benefit from saving energy and generating renewable power. Our services, cash incentives and energy solutions have helped participating customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas save $1.7 billion on energy bills. Our work helps keep energy costs as low as possible, creates jobs and builds a sustainable energy future. Learn more at www.energytrust.org or call 1-866-368-7878.