What do a battery recycler, a roofing products company, and a hydrogen gas producer have in common? They’ve all taken advantage of a SoCalGas energy efficiency program to take a bite out of energy costs in a challenging year. 
 
Called Strategic Energy Management, or SEM, this program helps manufacturers develop persistent energy savings programs through engineering and management support. The program engages cohorts of large industrial customers in two-year cycles to help drive persistent energy savings across their facilities. Specifically, SoCalGas Account Executives assist each participating customer with various services, including on-site and remote support for energy savings goal development, energy data collection, employee engagement, and planning for future improvements. 
 
While many of us transitioned quickly to work-at-home in the spring of 2020, all of these plants stayed open as essential businesses, and SoCalGas’ SEM program kept on delivering savings to their bottom line.
 
“The safety of our people is paramount,” says Bruce Davis, plant manager at Quemetco, the battery recycler in the City of Industry which participates in the program. “Fortunately, safety has always been our number one priority, so we were well prepared. For example, we immediately installed a nurse’s station at our main entrance to check on every one of our employees as well as visitors, and we had a ready supply of masks and sanitizer throughout the plant.” But that wasn’t the only challenge. The supply of batteries to the plant was unreliable, as gas stations, repair shops, and logistics companies also dealt with disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. “The savings and incentives from SoCalGas were definitely helpful in managing our cashflow,” says Davis. “Meanwhile, SEM has sparked some very creative ideas among our employees and managers, during a time when creativity was essential to navigating this challenging situation.”
 
Over at Ontario-based Linde, the plant kept on delivering liquid hydrogen to industry, as well as compressed hydrogen to the burgeoning low-carbon transportation sector. “Our customers were living through their own challenges in 2020, but we kept to our mission of delivering efficiently and on time” says Christian Lenci, director of capital, productivity and energy at Linde. “SEM fits well with our search for continual improvement every day. The technical support from Cascade Energy, SoCalGas’ partner in delivering the program, helped our Ontario staff get more from the plant, and ultimately deliver more value to our customers.”
 
Construction was on pause in the spring of 2020, so the team at Owens Corning’s roofing plant in Compton spent the time thinking about efficiencies. “We wanted to be ready for the bounce back in orders,” says Matt Prue, site leader at Owens Corning. “The SEM program and the Cascade team helped us really think through how we use gas in the plant. A treasure hunt for savings opportunities was a huge part of getting us into an efficiency mindset.” At the same time, during a very uncertain year, the plant was looking for low-cost ideas. Prue added, “We found a great project by optimizing our environmental controls to keep our community safe while burning a lot less gas. And we didn’t have to spend a ton of money to do it. It’s a win for everybody.”
 
Energy efficiency is a team sport. The results at Linde, Owens Corning, and Quemetco are due to the initiative and persistence of dozens of employees and the diligent support of SoCalGas Account Executives Jaime Leiva, Joshua Warwick and Mike Torres.
 
The SEM program has delivered over 660,000 therms of savings in the past couple of years, equivalent to the annual use of 2,100 homes. Here at SoCalGas, we are proud to support local manufacturers, keep good jobs in Southern California, and uphold our values of championing people and shaping the future. 
 
For more information on SEM and other SoCalGas energy-saving programs for business, visit: https://www.socalgas.com/for-your-business/energy-savings/energy-saving-programs.