June 25, 2007
Despite costs, some companies stay put
By Adam Smartschan and Matthew L. Brown
It's safe to say that Acromatic Plastics Inc. treasurer and CFO Jim Crisci never enjoys opening the company's electric bill.
Last month alone, the Leominster-based custom injection molder ran up more than $24,000 in power costs, the vast majority of which went toward running its high-tech molders 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Energy costs are obviously a major monthly financial hit for Acromatic. There's little the company can do to reduce them, Crisci said; it's just the way it is in Massachusetts. And it's the way things have always been in the commonwealth. Crisci said Massachusetts has never done a very good job competing with other states when it comes to electricity costs.
"It's just a very expensive area to be in," Crisci said. "(The state has) never been competitive in that area. It's not a question of increases in costs. We've never been competitive in power costs whatsoever."
Crisci said the costs add up so much that they've become a common reason for plastics companies, which dominate the north-central part of Massachusetts, to leave the state entirely. He's received phone calls from marketers hired by other states offering electricity savings totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
But Acromatic isn't going anywhere, Crisci said. And it does what it can to scrimp and save when it comes to electricity, including replacing machines every 10 years, when more efficient models become available.
But the expense still hurts.
"We're not leaving Massachusetts," Crisci said. "We were born here, we've lived here all our lives. We're not going anywhere. But today people that run companies that are owned by other companies, they don't have that sense. They're not from here, they don't care where they locate. They just want to locate in a state to make a profit."
With the oppressive energy costs, other companies are doing what they can to soften the blow.
Moving to save
For some companies, moving from outdated, poorly insulated, generally inefficient space can help save energy.
Fabrico of Oxford moved to a new company-built facility less than a year ago. Ann Gray, the company's president, said the move to new, much more energy efficient space alone has reduced energy costs, even though the new, 80,000-square-foot building is twice the size of the old one.
"Energy costs would really have killed us if they stayed the same as they were in our old building," Gray said. Instead, the company's utility bills are significantly smaller than they were before the move.
Gray said, "on a square-foot basis, we're paying about 60 percent of what we used to pay for general utilities."
"It's still painful, in a sense," because energy costs are high generally, and because moving to a new building comes along with some higher costs, Gray said.
"We've got high costs, but on the other hand, the efficiency has really been critical, and is something that the new construction was able to provide."
Fabrico employs about 100 people. Other companies in the area employ far more, and have massive manufacturing operations, so a move like Fabrico's is out of the question.
Saint-Gobain's Greendale manufacturing plant in Worcester has undergone several efficiency updates, and the end for such efforts doesn't appear to be in sight.
New bulbs, new strategy
Parts of Saint-Gobain's Greendale plant operate 24 hours per day, and the plant's total annual energy costs can swell beyond $10 million.
According to Karen Cawkwell, a Saint-Gobain spokesman, "our primary cost is electricity and natural gas used to run our manufacturing process." Cawkwell said the company is turning to "cheaper and more environmentally friendly options" like "alternative fuels and steam."
In fact, the company has plans to convert all its HVAC systems from electricity power to steam power.
Saint-Gobain also plans to use less well and city water.
Changing light bulbs gets a lot of attention as an easy way for businesses to cut energy costs, and Saint-Gobain has noticed.
"There have been several large lighting upgrade projects completed over the last few years," Cawkwell said. But with new and ever more efficient lighting technology being introduced all the time, Saint-Gobain currently has further plans to upgrade the lighting at its Worcester facilities.
The abrasives and ceramics manufacturer also has plans for replacing all its old electric motors with energy efficient variable speed motors, and is repairing compressed air leaks at the factory in order to save on electricity.
In office areas, the company has installed motion sensors that shut off the lights when no one is around, and "we also encourage energy conservation among our employees," Cawkwell said.
Employees are asked to turn off the lights when they're not needed, to close windows and to notify managers if they notice any "energy-related waste," Cawkwell said.
These efforts are part of the Saint-Gobain Corp.'s energy management program for the entire U.S. and Canada.
The company's Greendale facility includes five abrasives and ceramics manufacturing operations. Saint-Gobain also has research centers in Worcester and Northborough. The two centers are considered one entity and are known as the Northborough and Worcester R&D Center. As a whole, it's the company's second-largest research center, and will be the biggest when its current expansion is complete.
It's safe to say that Acromatic Plastics Inc. treasurer and CFO Jim Crisci never enjoys opening the company's electric bill.
Last month alone, the Leominster-based custom injection molder ran up more than $24,000 in power costs, the vast majority of which went toward running its high-tech molders 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Energy costs are obviously a major monthly financial hit for Acromatic. There's little the company can do to reduce them, Crisci said; it's just the way it is in Massachusetts. And it's the way things have always been in the commonwealth. Crisci said Massachusetts has never done a very good job competing with other states when it comes to electricity costs.
"It's just a very expensive area to be in," Crisci said. "(The state has) never been competitive in that area. It's not a question of increases in costs. We've never been competitive in power costs whatsoever."
Crisci said the costs add up so much that they've become a common reason for plastics companies, which dominate the north-central part of Massachusetts, to leave the state entirely. He's received phone calls from marketers hired by other states offering electricity savings totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
But Acromatic isn't going anywhere, Crisci said. And it does what it can to scrimp and save when it comes to electricity, including replacing machines every 10 years, when more efficient models become available.
But the expense still hurts.
"We're not leaving Massachusetts," Crisci said. "We were born here, we've lived here all our lives. We're not going anywhere. But today people that run companies that are owned by other companies, they don't have that sense. They're not from here, they don't care where they locate. They just want to locate in a state to make a profit."
With the oppressive energy costs, other companies are doing what they can to soften the blow.
Moving to save
For some companies, moving from outdated, poorly insulated, generally inefficient space can help save energy.
Fabrico of Oxford moved to a new company-built facility less than a year ago. Ann Gray, the company's president, said the move to new, much more energy efficient space alone has reduced energy costs, even though the new, 80,000-square-foot building is twice the size of the old one.
"Energy costs would really have killed us if they stayed the same as they were in our old building," Gray said. Instead, the company's utility bills are significantly smaller than they were before the move.
Gray said, "on a square-foot basis, we're paying about 60 percent of what we used to pay for general utilities."
"It's still painful, in a sense," because energy costs are high generally, and because moving to a new building comes along with some higher costs, Gray said.
Jim Crisci, treasurer and CFO of Acromatic Plastics in Leominster.
Fabrico employs about 100 people. Other companies in the area employ far more, and have massive manufacturing operations, so a move like Fabrico's is out of the question.
Saint-Gobain's Greendale manufacturing plant in Worcester has undergone several efficiency updates, and the end for such efforts doesn't appear to be in sight.
New bulbs, new strategy
Parts of Saint-Gobain's Greendale plant operate 24 hours per day, and the plant's total annual energy costs can swell beyond $10 million.
According to Karen Cawkwell, a Saint-Gobain spokesman, "our primary cost is electricity and natural gas used to run our manufacturing process." Cawkwell said the company is turning to "cheaper and more environmentally friendly options" like "alternative fuels and steam."
In fact, the company has plans to convert all its HVAC systems from electricity power to steam power.
Saint-Gobain also plans to use less well and city water.
Changing light bulbs gets a lot of attention as an easy way for businesses to cut energy costs, and Saint-Gobain has noticed.
"There have been several large lighting upgrade projects completed over the last few years," Cawkwell said. But with new and ever more efficient lighting technology being introduced all the time, Saint-Gobain currently has further plans to upgrade the lighting at its Worcester facilities.
The abrasives and ceramics manufacturer also has plans for replacing all its old electric motors with energy efficient variable speed motors, and is repairing compressed air leaks at the factory in order to save on electricity.
In office areas, the company has installed motion sensors that shut off the lights when no one is around, and "we also encourage energy conservation among our employees," Cawkwell said.
Employees are asked to turn off the lights when they're not needed, to close windows and to notify managers if they notice any "energy-related waste," Cawkwell said.
These efforts are part of the Saint-Gobain Corp.'s energy management program for the entire U.S. and Canada.
The company's Greendale facility includes five abrasives and ceramics manufacturing operations. Saint-Gobain also has research centers in Worcester and Northborough. The two centers are considered one entity and are known as the Northborough and Worcester R&D Center. As a whole, it's the company's second-largest research center, and will be the biggest when its current expansion is complete.
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