Baton Rouge, La — The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Energy has recognized 14 Louisiana industrial manufacturers under the “Save Energy Now’ program for their work to reduce energy use and meet national energy goals.

DNR and the University of Lafayette of Louisiana have actively promoted and supported participation in the “Save Energy Now” initiative. In the last seven years, the Industrial Assessment Center at UL-Lafayette has performed over 186 energy-use assessments at Louisiana industrial plants. Those no-cost assessments were made as part of the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program.

Federally sponsored IACs, like the one at UL-Lafayette, provide eligible small- and medium-sized manufacturers with no-cost energy assessments. Additionally, the IACs serve as a training ground for the next-generation of energy-savvy engineers. Small- to medium-sized manufacturing facility with gross annual sales below $100 million and fewer than 500 employees at the plant site are eligible for an energy and waste assessment.

DOE is recognizing five Louisiana plants as 2007 Energy Champion Plants for saving more than 250,000 million Btu or more than 15 percent total energy savings:

2007 Energy Saver Awards are being given to nine Louisiana plants for saving more than 75,000 million Btu or more than 7.5 percent total energy savings:

To find our more about the Energy Savers program and Louisiana’s Industrial Assessment Center at UL-Lafayette, visit the DNR webpage at
 
http://dnr.louisiana.gov/sec/execdiv/techasmt/programs/index.htm#industrial

Award-winning companies will be publicly recognized at major industry meetings or events and on the Save Energy Now Web site. 
To see the full list of 2007 Save Energy Now award recipients, visit

www.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow/recognition.html