American Gas - October 2010 - (Page 20)

to be the best Great Ideas | solutIons cookin’ Up energy savings Utility energy efficiency programs serve up savings for restaurants. As economic troubles continue to drag on, restaurants are among the businesses feeling the effects of reduced consumer spending. the national restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index, which measures the health of the restaurant industry, declined for the third consecutive month in June (the latest data available as American Gas went to press). restaurant operators reported a net decline in same-store sales for the third consecutive month and a net decline in customer traffic. sales and business conditions will improve in the next six months, but the strength of their optimism fell to a five-month low.” Perking Up Savings To control costs while revenues languish, restaurants are looking at every line item, including energy expenditures. Consider DOMA Coffee Roasting Co. in Post Falls, Idaho. Owner Terry Patano recently asked Avista Utilities, his local energy provider, for help in making his operation more energy efficient. He had researched energy-saving roasters and selected the Loring Smartroast Kestrel S35, which uses 80 percent less natural gas than conventional roasters. Since the machine is one of the most expensive on the market, costing $100,000, and only 13 exist in the world—with an 18-month waiting period for new purchases—Patano wanted to make sure the roaster would be a wise investment. Enter Avista’s “Every Little Bit” campaign and its site-specific incentive program, which gives commercial and industrial customers expert technical assistance, assessing a business’ energy efficiency needs and customizing a plan to fit its goals. Avista’s energy efficiency engineers provide free energy audits/analysis studies that outline the expected energy savings and estimate implementation and maintenance costs. Avista employees studied DOMA’s situation, offered advice on other energy-savings ideas for Patano’s coffee roasting company and provided a financial incentive to help defray the cost of the roaster. The amount of the incenDEBBIE SIMOCK is communications manager for Avista Corp., an energy company involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy, as well as other energyrelated businesses. Avista Utilities is the operating division that provides electric service to 355,000 customers and natural gas to 315,000 customers. Avista’s service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.5 million. “Although the current situation indicators [same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures] registered a modest improvement in June [compared with May’s performance], each of the four expectations indicators [operator outlooks for same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions] dipped for the second consecutive month,” says Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association’s Research and Knowledge Group. “Restaurant operators are generally optimistic that 20 october 2010 AmericAn GAs

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - October 2010

American Gas - September 2010
Contents
President’s Message
We’ve Got Mail
Industry News
Safety First
To Be the Best
Reflections from AGA’s ‘Player-Coach’
2010 Buyer’s Guide
Marketplace
Advertisers’ Index
Places to Be
Noteworthies
Jobline
Facts on Gas

American Gas - October 2010