In April 2009, Blount International, a global manufacturer of saw chains and equipment for the forestry, garden and construction industries, was searching for ways to cut costs. With a mounting recession and decreasing plant production, management personnel at Blount’s Portland and Milwaukie facilities were exploring energy efficiency as an untapped opportunity. Blount’s new-found energy management team soon discovered Energy Trust’s Industrial Energy Improvement initiative.

After participating in the initiative for 12 months and completing seven energy-efficiency projects, Blount is now benefitting from increased production levels and expected annual savings of more than 3.2 million kilowatt hours. “The expertise that Energy Trust brought to the table through its Industrial Energy Improvement initiative really helped us to understand where to focus our efforts,” said Jason Smith, corporate environmental engineer. “We learned which energy-efficiency projects were the most cost effective, and Energy Trust provided more than $130,000 in cash incentives, which made the difference in whether several of our projects penciled out.”