Turning Partnership into Opportunity: How Taper Leveraged Rebates to Help Grocers Reduce Gas Usage
For grocers, refrigeration is essential. Grocery store refrigerators must operate 24/7 to keep food safe, making them one of the largest energy expenses.
Enter Taper – an energy management partner dedicated to driving positive change for commercial businesses. Since 2020, Taper has delivered $34 million in annualized operational savings and $16.6 million in rebates to commercial businesses. Taper has also helped several grocery store owners reduce gas usage by leveraging Cascade Natural Gas Corporation (CNGC) Commercial and Industrial program rebates for refrigerator case door installations.
“Adding doors to existing refrigerated cases continues to be a cost-effective, high-impact energy improvement for many food retailers across the West Coast.”
– Andy Marse, Vice President of Sales & Customer Success at Taper
When open, refrigerator cases can drain cool air, strain compressors, and cause discomfort for grocery store shoppers. Installing refrigerator case doors reduces this drain, strain, and customer discomfort while improving product preservation.
For many small-to-mid-sized independent grocers, a common barrier to installing refrigerator case doors is the upfront cost. Additionally, grocers can face other challenges like scheduling constraints, unusual case styles, and complex store layouts. Taper finds solutions to each of these unique challenges by offering tailored energy efficiency guidance and utility rebate management. The savings from refrigerator case door installations also help grocers save money in the long term. In fact, adding refrigerator case doors can reduce energy use by 20–40%, typically saving grocery store owners tens of thousands of dollars annually in operational savings.
“The benefits extend beyond economic and emissions savings—these upgrades have improved store comfort, food safety, and merchandising.”
– Andy Marse, Vice President of Sales & Customer Success at Taper
Taper has established themselves as a leader in grocery store energy management by partnering with the CNGC Commercial and Industrial program. Since partnering with CNGC, Taper has installed 1,985 feet of medium temperature case doors resulting in the delivery of:
- 10 projects
- $137,000 in CNGC incentives
- Over 130,000 in Therm savings
(Equivalent to removing 160 gas-powered cars from the road for a year!)
“We’ve had a great experience working with the program management and engineering teams at CNGC. They clearly explained the program and incentive application process, ensuring our first submission was successful.”
– Andy Marse, Vice President of Sales & Customer Success at Taper
Looking ahead, Taper plans to continue helping commercial businesses succeed by managing utility rebates, staying informed on rapidly evolving energy code, and exploring more innovative ways to save gas.
Ready to work with our program to help customers save? Get in touch with us to talk about projects.