SoCalGas announced the “Take the Challenge” competition with Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar. Fourteen of their locations will square off against each other to see which restaurants can reduce their natural gas use the most.

SoCalGas developed a new digital dashboard tool called “Take the Challenge” which provides restaurant chain locations with a breakdown of hourly natural gas usage. The new tool will enable Lazy Dog Restaurant locations to view and compare their natural gas consumption across all participating locations. Each participating location will have the ability to see who is conserving more natural gas. In addition, each location will receive personalized energy savings tips from SoCalGas. This is the first time that a restaurant will be able to view all this information in a single online site.   

“Here at SoCalGas, we are constantly looking at new and innovative opportunities to provide our customers with the technology and resources to conserve energy and save money,” said Brian Prusnek, director of customer programs and assistance at SoCalGas. “We have over 50,000 restaurants as customers and it’s imperative that we find creative solutions to help them save money on their bills and also realize our mutual commitment to sustainability.”  

SoCalGas technicians visited participating Lazy Dog Restaurant locations to survey gas equipment, measure square footage and track foot traffic (when possible) at each restaurant. The survey information data was used to understand typical monthly gas use and to develop algorithms for the “Take the Challenge” dashboard. The top five most efficient Lazy Dog restaurants will be highlighted in the competition.

The first Lazy Dog Restaurant opened in Huntington Beach in 2003, and as of August 2022, there are 44 locations in the US. SoCalGas is pleased to have Lazy Dog on board as the first group of restaurants to “Take the Challenge” to save energy in their kitchens.

“The ability to look across our restaurant locations, understand our usage and work with our operations teams to reduce our carbon footprint as well as benefit from energy efficiencies are especially important with the impact of inflation. We are excited to partner with SoCalGas and the communities we serve to help each other,” said Roshan Mendis, co-founder, and senior vice president of restaurant services.

Takeaways from this program will help SoCalGas better serve our commercial customers and will enable more local restaurants and businesses to measure, track and conserve their energy usage which can lead to lower energy bills and a cleaner, greener California.

The challenge includes 14 Lazy Dog Restaurant locations across Southern California including Brea, Cerritos, Downey, Irvine, Montclair, Orange, Oxnard, Rancho Cucamonga, Santa Clarita, Temecula, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, West Covina, and Huntington Beach/Westminster.

Restaurants chains with multiple locations are invited to “Take the Challenge.” To learn more contact SoCalGas Chef Will Morris, CFSP Food Service Equipment Center at (213) 231-950 or wmorris@socalgas.com.

Bottom Picture: “Take the Challenge” kick-off meeting with Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar and SoCalGas representatives.