RC Bigelow Upholds Core Value Of Energy Efficiency

The Business

RC Bigelow is a tea packing plant located in Boise, Idaho. Tea is sent in bulk from the Bigelow plant in Fairfield, Conn., and then packed into tea bags at the Boise facility.

RC Bigelow is a family-owned company and is the number one specialty tea company in the United States. As a whole, the company produces 1.3 billion tea bags per year.

One of RC Bigelow’s core values is to be environmentally friendly.

The Challenge

Yearly company goals include environmental responsibility.

In order to help RC Bigelow meet this goal, Cascade Energy Engineering was brought in under Idaho Power’s Scoping Audit program; they provided an energy analysis report on RC Bigelow’s compressed air system that showed the company could save money with efficiency upgrades.

The Solution

RC Bigelow planned to split the implementation of Cascade Engineering’s audit findings into two fiscal years.

In the first year, the company replaced a heatless desiccant dryer with an oversized refrigerated dryer and installed 500 gallons of receiver capacity.

In the second year, RC Bigelow replaced an older compressor with new, variable-speed compressor and added 1,250 more gallons of receiver capacity. The variable-speed compressor adjusts to plant load demands and maintains a consistent line pressure.

The Outcome

The compressed air system was upgraded at a cost of $17,026.

“We saved money and energy at the same time following our core value to continually be energy efficient and be a good steward to the environment,” RC Bigelow Boise Maintenance Manager Steve Holloway said.

The Savings

The project is estimated to save 92,609 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. The energy savings are equivalent to the total average annual energy use of seven typical Idaho homes. The plant is currently seeing a reduction of 25 to 30 percent on their monthly electrical usage.

The Bottom Line

The first year, Idaho Power’s Custom Efficiency program provided RC Bigelow with an $11,113 incentive for the energy efficiency upgrades—65 percent of the project cost.

The net project cost to RC Bigelow was $5,913. In the second year, Idaho Power’s Custom Efficiency program provided RC Bigelow with a $9,303 incentive for the energy efficiency upgrades—38 percent of the project cost. The net project cost to RC Bigelow was $15,176.

“The incentive provides an excellent return on investment. It made my job easy to cost-justify this project,” Holloway said.