Energy Saving Success Story

Media Statement from TrustPower Limited

7 August 2008

An energy saving exercise carried out by TrustPower shows that even a well informed electricity company, in a 15-year old energy efficient building, can reduce its energy consumption and lock in that reduction to deliver long term cost savings.

At the end of May TrustPower introduced an in-house energy saving campaign, in response to growing concerns about low hydro storage levels.

TrustPower's head office operates out of a 15-year-old building adjacent to rural land on the outskirts of Tauranga, housing around 250 people during normal business hours, and some 300 people overall. The building was purpose built, and designed to incorporate efficiency features that were available at the time, including energy saving lighting. This meant that there was very little opportunity to reduce lighting consumption by changing lamps or fittings, and because of the building location, external lighting could not be reduced, for staff safety and property security reasons.

Staff were encouraged to switch off lighting when not required, and to ensure that equipment such as computers, monitors and printers were switched off at the end of each working day.

The results were outstanding.

For the month of June, total energy use dropped 10.3% compared to the same month in 2007, and during the evenings, energy savings amounted to 17%.

For July, the overall saving was 8.3%, while the evening saving climbed even further to 19%.

The TrustPower team are continuing to apply the energy saving measures learned during the exercise, receiving weekly feedback about their achievements. In addition, instruction about energy saving has now been incorporated into the induction and training processes for all new employees.

Chief Executive Keith Tempest says he is really proud of what the TrustPower team have been able to achieve.

"I don't want to be seen as blowing our trumpet over this. But I think our achievements show that a little effort can go a long way. Without any significant impact on our business operations, apart perhaps from waiting a few minutes for some equipment to warm up in the morning, we have achieved really worthwhile reductions in our electricity consumption. We can now lock those savings in, and turn that into an ongoing reduction in cost, while at the same time benefitting the environment."

ENDS

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