In the industrial and commercial sectors, we often see a disconnect between high-level corporate sustainability goals and the day-to-day work at sites around the country. Site-level managers, while experts in their operational domains, frequently lack the time, specific expertise, or resources to identify and implement energy efficiency and decarbonization projects that align with ambitious corporate targets.
Recognizing this gap, Fresh Coast and our parent company Cascade Energy, designed and delivered a unique program on behalf of National Grid. The initiative guided 14 diverse companies, from mining and manufacturing to healthcare and higher education, on a journey to translate corporate sustainability ambitions into an impactful, site-specific energy and decarbonization roadmap.
Overview
The companies participating in the Comprehensive Energy Plan program, such as a glass maker, a community college, and various food and beverage producers, shared a common primary motivation: improving energy efficiency. For many, this was driven by a desire to reduce operational costs. However, a majority of the participants also had corporate-level sustainability goals, such as specific targets for reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The challenge lay in the disconnect between these corporate mandates and the daily realities of plant and facility operations.
Corporate sustainability teams often set broad targets, but the responsibility for meeting them falls to site-level personnel who are already managing complex, demanding operations. These managers needed a bridge—a trusted advisor who could help them identify promising energy-saving opportunities, quantify their financial and GHG emissions impact, and build a clear roadmap for implementation. For other participants without formal corporate goals, the challenge was more fundamental: they needed to establish a baseline understanding of their site-level emissions inventory before they could introduce reduction strategies.
Historically, utility programs have focused on either energy efficiency or sustainability, rarely bringing energy efficiency and emissions into the same decision-making space. However, as customers increasingly make the connection between their site-level energy use and broader corporate goals, there is growing interest in utility incentive programs that can address both.
Our partnership with Cascade allows us to address that need and deliver this unique program. Through the Comprehensive Energy Plan program, customers got access to a broader offering that blended energy efficiency engineering with decarbonization consulting. Cascade’s long-standing leadership in industrial energy efficiency provided the technical horsepower for the program’s “treasure hunts”—intensive, on-site events designed to uncover hidden energy-saving opportunities in processes, equipment, and operational practices.
At Fresh Coast, we bring a specialized focus on climate strategy and GHG emissions accounting that compliments Cascade’s expertise in energy efficiency. By adding this capacity, we provided a dual capability that unlocked the program’s full potential. It meant that every energy efficiency measure identified during a treasure hunt could be translated into its corresponding GHG reduction impact. This allowed the team to move beyond a simple focus on energy savings and engage participants in a more holistic conversation about decarbonization. The program was designed not just to find projects, but to build capacity, connect stakeholders, set site-level goals, and create a sustainable framework for continuous improvement.
Fresh Coast’s decarbonization model included the following: a site-level Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions inventory, site-level energy and emission goals & targets scaled from corporate reports, and emission savings calculated per project driven by year of implementation to account for projected local grid decarbonization efforts. The model we built informed the participants’ decarbonization plans, allowing us to provide analyses on: the current distribution of emissions by significant energy users (SEU) on site, a projection of total emissions through 2030 and their respective distribution by SEU, and 2030 progress towards completing site-level goals & targets. Our decarbonization models and plans empowered the participants to turn corporate-level goal reporting into tangible action by providing data-driven insights and opportunities for the site to continue decarbonization efforts moving forward.
For companies with existing corporate goals, the decarbonization and energy roadmap became a powerful tool for developing concrete, site-level action plans. For those without corporate goals, the program provided the support needed to develop a site-level Scope 1 and 2 emissions inventory, creating a critical baseline for future sustainability efforts.
While the plans we provided to customers are a meaningful step in their journey, we’re encouraged by the engagement and positive feedback we have already heard. For example, one site shared a site-level energy use and GHG emissions tracker, provided by corporate, to report improvements to energy and water efficiency. However, this tracker did not provide a user-friendly structure to input new projects and calculate their respective emissions savings. We were able to support their efforts to report on site level emissions reductions that aligned with corporate goals, while providing an energy and emissions tracking tool they can continue to use in the future.
We’re excited to have been part of this unique offering on behalf of National Grid, practicing a framework for future utility programs that combine energy efficiency, electrification, and decarbonization projects to better serve their industrial customers.
As more operations managers are given the support and resources they need to connect their daily work with the climate goals of the larger organization they represent, we’ll be able to help translate high-level goals into tangible actions that enable our customers to both save money and meet their climate targets.
