This article comes from Motor Decisions Matter, a national campaign encouraging the use of sound motor management and planning as a tool to cut motor energy costs and increase productivity. The campaign is sponsored by a consortium of motor industry manufacturers and service centers, trade associations, electric utilities and government agencies.

Motor Management Reaps Savings for RMC Pacific Materials Cement Division
 
Skyrocketing energy prices, resulting from the 2000 crash of the California power market, were sapping profit margins from RMC Pacific Materials Cement Division of Davenport, Calif. The plant, which produces, grinds, and ships cement to locations throughout California, faced a pressing need to reduce its energy consumption and to update its facility’s efficiency to remain profitable in the state’s changing economic conditions. In 2002, Greg Galvin began to implement RMC’s energy management strategy focusing on offsetting the increasing costs. Galvin had come to RMC a year earlier, bringing more than 10 years of experience in energy efficiency and power quality.
 
“With the 2000 power market crash, our rates effectively doubled,” says Galvin. “Since you can’t control energy prices, you need to reduce consumption instead. The rising costs reinforce the need to be energy conscious.” While reviewing historical prices for repairs to the motors that power the grinding and shipping operations, Galvin saw how costly the process of rewinding the old motors—some originally manufactured as early as the 1930s—had become for RMC Cement Division. He recognized the potential for the company to cut its energy consumption and reduce the need for expensive maintenance by replacing the older motors with new, energy-efficient models.
 
Galvin explains, “I saw that rewinding one of our motors would cost $22,000, while a new motor would be $25,000. I thought, for the extra $3,000 and the same amount of labor, why not buy the new, more efficient motor?” The new motor would continue to save the company money in reduced energy costs throughout its life.
 
Many motors cost far less than the one Galvin initially reviewed for repair or replacement, but some of RMC Cement Division’s motors are very large —3000 horsepower— and are therefore more expensive. These large motors also fall outside of the current specifications for high efficiency, NEMA Premium™ motors, which only apply to motors up to 500 horsepower. Because of this, Baldor Electric, a motor manufacturer and sponsor of the national, nonprofit Motor Decisions Matter campaign (MDM), worked to craft premium-efficient motors specifically for RMC Cement Division. Baldor and other MDM sponsors collaborate with facilities to implement NEMA Premium motors and other motor management strategies that reduce energy bills and plant downtime.
 
The vice president of operations at the Davenport plant was receptive to Galvin’s proposal to implement a motor replacement strategy, particularly when he saw the estimates of energy cost savings calculated using Baldor’s Energy Savings Tool (B.E.$.T.) and MotorMaster™ software. The MotorMaster+ software was developed by Washington State University’s Cooperative Extension Energy Program and funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Industrial Technologies’ Best Practices Program (formerly the Motor Challenge Program). Both tools are designed to help companies build a comprehensive motor inventory and to compare motor efficiencies.
 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a utility, contributed to the feasibility of RMC Cement Division’s motor plan through the Standard Performance Contract, a California statewide cash incentive program encouraging companies to put less pressure on the energy grid through lower energy consumption. Galvin applied for the contract successfully, and the $110,000 rebate reduced RMC Cement Division’s return on investment on the new motors to six or seven months; a combination of the rebate and the ongoing energy savings of the motors allowed the investment to “pay for itself” in a short amount of time.  Baldor's $1/HP rebate on it’s Super-E® Motors. 
 
As Galvin and Baldor representatives began to integrate the new motors into the facility, Galvin installed six power meters to monitor power consumption in each area of the plant. He saw the immediate impact of the new motors on energy usage: it decreased substantially after the motors’ installation. Galvin noticed another benefit of the new motors as well.
 
“Older motors with open, drip proof frames get filled with dirt, dust, and water, and everything else you can think of. We are right on the coast, so there is a lot of salt air and moisture. With the new motors, the maintenance cost was cut in half at least, as they are enclosed and do not need to be taken out every few years to get cleaned and refurbished,” he says. The non-energy benefits of motor management include important factors like reduced plant downtime due to less need for motor maintenance.
 
Galvin used the metric of energy consumption per ton of cement ground and per ton shipped to illustrate the decreasing energy demands resulting from the new motors. When RMC Pacific Materials joined ENERGY STAR®, a voluntary energy efficiency program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that works with specific industrial sectors to improve their energy performance, the program was pleased with the Cement Division’s proactive approach to energy management. Galvin, as RMC’s ENERGY STAR representative, joined other cement producers in an ENERGY STAR focus on improving energy efficiency in the cement industry.  With ENERGY STAR, the companies are supporting development of an industry benchmark for cement plant energy efficiency and other energy management tools.
 
“RMC Pacific sets a good example for industrial facilities in the U.S. Their strategic energy management program is critical to improving energy use, and Greg's motor initiative, as a part of the program, is delivering real results for the company and the environment,” says Betsy Dutrow, manager of ENERGY STAR’s work with industrial companies.
 
RMC Pacific Materials Cement Division’s forward-thinking energy strategy has already resulted in savings of 3.1 million kWh, which represents a 15 percent reduction in energy consumption. The strategy has also decreased plant downtime, sending a positive message to clients as well as bolstering RMC’s profitability. A corporation-wide energy management plan is currently in the works since the Cement Division’s strategy has been so successful.
 
In today’s unpredictable energy market, where prices may remain high or climb further, now may be the perfect time for companies to consider their motor management strategies, as RMC has done. For more information about the energy and non-energy benefits of motor management, visit the Motor Decisions Matter Website. The site contains the 1-2-3 Approach to Motor Management, a free, online tool designed to calculate the potential energy savings that can result from a motor plan; case studies of companies that have implemented motor plans; a list of campaign sponsors throughout the country who are available to assist in the motor planning process; and helpful links to other motor planning and motor service Web sites. A link to the MotorMaster+ 4.0 software can be found on the MDM Web site.