Hassey's Grocery

For a lot of small businesses throughout Massachusetts, they’ve heard about potential operational upgrades through utility-sponsored programs like Mass Save—on billboards, on the web, through the mail—but often don’t have the extra time to dig into how it could benefit them.

So, when NRM came by Hassey’s Grocery & Mediterranean Food in Methuen, MA, and walked them through how the program works, and particularly how businesses with commercial refrigeration systems can benefit from operational upgrades, they were excited to take advantage.

NRM’s knowledgeable Energy Advisor walked the owners through the no-cost assessment where we looked for specific places their system could be improved. Which, by doing so, would not only reduce their monthly electric costs (which directly impacts their bottom line), but also give them more control over their temperatures to keep their cold, perishable product safe, and help with important but time-consuming tasks like daily temperature logging.

In Hassey’s Grocery’s particular case, their main opportunities were found in their evaporator fan operation. Typically the oldest and least efficient part of the system, it’s also usually a slam dunk option for optimization. With NRM’s solution retrofit onto their walk-in cooler with no disruption to their business, Hassey’s almost immediately saw a difference.

All told, the solution has been slashing nearly 3,500 kWh from their bill each year in the two years they’ve had it. When the electric rate was $0.17, this meant they saw nearly $600 slashed from their electric bill, with that figure standing to be higher now that the statewide electric hikes have happened.

It’s possible they’ll continue seeing a better return than the year before as this isn’t likely the end of the rate increases, which delivers some peace of mind when everything is constantly fluctuating.