“CCE’s guidance saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and we are now confidently moving forward on the road to energy independence.” – Sheila Lee
Dole was referred to us through one of our existing clients. They, like many sustainably-minded corporations, wanted more clean energy to power their operations. However, given their number of facilities and broad geographic presence, they were unsure what technologies and locations should be prioritized. The challenge is that the clean energy space is crowded with may “Point Solution Providers” and given the entire sector is relatively new and growing, it is difficult to find seasoned knowledge leaders that understand the full landscape, including the financial economics that drive decisions for corporations. However, CCE’s managing partners each have decades of experience within the clean technology sector and have had a passionate interest in a variety of solutions.
After CCE’s managing partner Ryan Park engaged with Dole’s executive and operational teams to understand their situation, CCE was hired to help Dole Fresh Vegetables strategize and begin their Energy Independence journey and Ryan Park led the process.
The road to clean energy independence requires many steps and to achieve any difficult goal, it requires a plan. Given Dole Fresh Vegetables complicated operational grower, packer and shipper model the first step was to understand the baseline energy situation then solution options could be formulated.
- CCE evaluated and organized over 100 PG&E utility meters, which helped the accounting department apply costs correctly to various divisions and sub-entities.
- CCE identified several hundred thousand dollars of annual electricity bills savings by simply changing rate tariffs.
- Evaluated Solar and Wind generation options at their various facilities.
- Identified a Wind solution in the ideal wind zone of Soledad as the best onsite generation project to implement first.
- CCE then supported Dole as an owners representative to negotiate the best contract terms possible.
- Dole is moving forward on the wind project and continues to work with CCE on the next steps of their energy independence plan strategy.