Maine Paper Mill Receives Award For Energy Savings Strategy

The Energy Planning Network (EPN), Verso Paper, and EnerNOC, Inc. announced today that Verso Paper, a supplier of coated papers in North America, has been awarded EPN’s “2005/2006 Energy Users Excellence Award” in the Demand Management Initiative Category. Founded in 1993, EPN is a peer group for corporate energy and facility management professionals. EPN helps members maximize energy savings by providing a central, unbiased clearinghouse of vital resources, networking, and advocacy.

Verso’s winning initiative deployed innovative demand response strategies at its Bucksport, ME mill. Verso began the initiative in the winter of 2005/2006 when ISO New England created a winter demand response program to protect its electric supply from potentially significant gas shortages resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. When requested by the ISO, the mill cut its pulp production by nearly 100%, used surplus steam capacity to generate electricity, and returned in excess of 50 megawatts of usable power to the grid.

Verso utilities manager Glenn Poole commented, “Our commitment to energy management is vital to our role as a sustainable supplier to our customers and we are proud to be recognized by our peers for our efforts.”

EnerNOC provides market expertise and technology that enables its partners to maximize their participation in energy markets, beginning with demand response. Verso’s initial foray into demand response served as a valuable introduction to New England’s real-time energy markets.

According to Gregg Dixon, vice president of marketing and sales for EnerNOC, “Demand response serves as a gateway to engaging in more complex energy management endeavors. We have seen that as our customers gain experience, they are compelled to dig deeper into their energy usage and participate more fully in energy markets to gain even greater cost control over energy expenditures.”

Verso Paper is the second EnerNOC client to be honored by EPN. Pathmark, a supermarket chain with stores in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, received an award for “Best Cost Control Initiative” last year. EnerNOC’s commitment to client satisfaction is rooted in the company’s desire to guarantee customer financial returns while promoting energy conservation.

Award winners were chosen from a panel of large energy users and utilities from around the world. EPN will conduct an official award presentation at its invitation-only 8th Annual Large Energy Users Summit in Austin, Texas today and tomorrow.

About the EPN Award
Operated by EPN, the Annual Energy Users Excellence Awards recognize exceptional efforts by commercial, industrial and institutional facility owners/operators. As a collaborative effort among large energy users and utilities worldwide, entries are judged solely by a panel of peers including corporate energy managers and representatives from electric, gas and water companies.