Our Programs Help Kenny’s Candy And Tuffy’s Pet Foods Realize Significant Energy Savings

We partnered with Kenny’s Candy and Tuffy’s Pet Foods, both divisions of KLN Family Brands, on several energy-efficiency factory upgrades.

Kenny’s Candy participated in our Industrial Process Efficiency program, starting with an energy audit to discover the most cost-effective projects. Energy-efficiency improvements, which will save 1.4 million kilowatt-hours and $105,000 of electricity annually, include:

• High-efficiency light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures throughout the plant. LEDs last about four times longer than metal halide fixtures and twice as long as fluorescents, resulting in a significant reduction in maintenance costs as well as electricity use. The new LED fixtures include motion sensors that turn lights off in areas of the plant that aren’t in use, further reducing electricity costs and lengthening LED life.
• Adjustable-speed drives (ASDs) for motors. An ASD matches a motor’s energy consumption with its load, often reducing electricity use by as much as 50 percent.
• Air compressor upgrades. A typical compressed-air system uses only 50 percent of its air supply for production, while the other 50 percent is lost to leaks and wasteful uses. Upgrades to the Kenny’s Candy compressed-air system resulted in 356,800 kilowatt-hours saved annually and makes the air system more than 70 percent efficient.

Kenny’s Candy also completed custom projects that are eligible for rebates when energy savings can be quantified through engineering analyses. The projects, which include preventive maintenance, upgraded chillers, and a new energy-efficient roof-top unit for heating, cooling, and ventilation, save an additional 117,000 kilowatt-hours and $8,775 annually.

Tuffy’s Pet Foods doubled its manufacturing output with a 180,000-square-foot state-of-the-art expansion. Working with us to ensure building efficiency resulted in saving millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity.

• Replacing existing and installing new energy-efficient motors and adjustable-speed drives (ASDs) saves more than 3 million kilowatt-hours and $225,000 annually.
• Installing LED fixtures saves 4.8 million kilowatt-hours and $360,000 annually.
• Installing efficient cooler controls and lighting, roof-top units, and air compressors saves 427,000 kilowatt-hours and $32,025 annually.

“Tuffy’s and Kenny’s Candy teams did an excellent job of determining which projects and upgrades they wanted to address and seeing those projects through,” said Otter Tail Power Company Senior Commercial Industrial Representative Chris Waltz. “Their kilowatt-hour savings will have a significant impact on their electricity use—and on their electric bills—in the months and years to come.”

“Chris and the Otter Tail Power Company team worked very closely with our Tuffy’s and Kenny’s Candy divisions in showing us ways to reduce energy use and costs,” said KLN Family Brands President Charlie Nelson. “We are seeing a quick payback through this process. The Otter Tail Power Company team was very accessible along the way and instrumental in keeping this process simple so that we could really embrace the program. KLN greatly appreciates the partnership.”

Our Minnesota Conservation Improvement Program provides rebates, grants, education, special programs, and financing to encourage individuals and businesses to use electricity wisely. Learn more about this program on our Ways To Save page.