The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday announced Bimbo Bakeries USA of Reading, Berks County, a commercial bread & roll baking company, was among 93 manufacturing plants nationally that earned the Energy Star certification for their superior energy performance in 2017.

“Earning Energy Star certification is a real mark of excellence, highlighting companies that are leaders in cutting energy costs and reducing waste,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum. “This program is in direct line with the administration’s priorities to support American manufacturing - greater efficiency fosters industrial development, greater competitiveness, a strong economy, and a healthy environment.”

Together, the 93 nationally recognized plants reduced their energy bills by almost $340 million, saved over 60 trillion British thermal units (TBtu) of energy, and achieved broad emissions reductions including 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

The energy savings is enough to meet the annual energy needs of almost 360,000 American households.

The Energy Star industrial program provides industry-specific energy benchmarking tools and other resources for 17 different types of manufacturing plants. These resources allow an industrial plant to compare its energy performance to others in the same industry and therefore establish meaningful energy performance goals.

Plants from the automotive, baking, cement, corn refining, food processing, glass manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and petroleum refining sectors are among those that qualified in 2017.

Since 2006, the Energy Star Industrial Program has annually certified manufacturing plants for reaching the top 25 percent of energy performance in their industries nationwide. Over 190 plants have achieved this distinction since 2006.

For more information, visit EPA’s Energy Star Industrial Program webpage. Click Here for specific plant profiles. Click Here to learn more about how Energy Star and industry work together.

[Posted: March 27, 2018]

4/2/2018