Frankfort, Ky. (March 17, 2015) – Governor Steve Beshear today announced five Kentucky manufacturing plants have achieved Energy Star certification for superior energy performance in 2014 and are among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) top 70 manufacturing plants in 29 states. Kentucky only trailed Texas and Washington, and was tied with Ohio, in the total number of manufacturing plants certified per state. Kentucky’s two Toyota Motor Manufacturing plants; the Kellogg Company cookie and cracker plants located in Louisville and Florence; and CEMEX Kosmos, a Louisville-based cement manufacturer are among the nation’s leading industries for saving energy and money, while helping to improve the environment. Together, the 8,609 dedicated employees who work at these five Kentucky plants reduced 659 gigawatt-hours of energy usage, which is enough to power 58,000 Kentucky homes, and reduce 715,000 tons of carbon dioxide, 1,457 tons of sulfur dioxides and 657 tons of nitrogen oxide. “We are proud to have these Kentucky manufacturing plants achieve Energy Star certification for 2014,” Gov. Beshear said. “Through outstanding leadership in energy efficiency, these Kentucky manufacturers are demonstrating how economic and environmental priorities can work together to achieve superior results.” The Commonwealth is home to more than 4,000 manufacturers across the state. These companies represent $27 billion in GDP and 220,000 jobs. More than 70 percent of Kentucky’s announced projects in 2014 came from the manufacturing sector, making up approximately 75 percent of announced new investment and half of the announced new jobs. Implementing energy efficiency standards and achieving Energy Star certification are smart ways to lower the costs of doing business and improve competitiveness in the global market place. According to the EPA, these 70 manufacturing plants saved a record amount of energy, cut their energy bills by $725 million, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 8 million metric tons – equivalent to the annual total energy use of more than 650,000 households. From implementing corporate energy management programs to implementing energy efficiency projects, there are many ways plants can save energy with EPA’s Energy Star program. Energy Star certified plants are independently verified on an annual basis to have reached the top 25 percent of energy performance for their industries nationwide. Among these are plants from the auto assembly, cement manufacturing, corn refining, food processing, glass manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing and petroleum refining industries. EPA provides industry-specific Energy Star plant benchmarking tools to help industry measure energy performance. These are available or under development for more than 20 manufacturing sectors. Energy Star benchmarks enable companies to compare a plant’s energy performance against those of its industry and empower manufacturers to set informed improvement goals. For specific plant profiles, see: www.energystar.gov/buildinglist For more information about Energy Star certified plants, see: www.energystar.gov/industry.
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