Upstate Niagara Cooperative Energy Audits

Upstate Niagara Cooperative is one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the United States. Member families have been farming in the Western New York region for several generations, during which several different cooperatives were formed. Upstate Niagara began producing high-quality dairy products in 1971 and steadily grew to offer more product offerings including the “Bison Foods” line.

In Western New York, Upstate Niagara Cooperative has a 157,600 sf plant in West Seneca processes milk into cultured products such as yogurt, cottage cheese and sour cream; and a 71,427 sf fluid milk processing facility in Buffalo. Both facilities receive low cost power allocations through the New York Power Authority’s ReCharge NY Program.

C.J. Brown Energy completed energy efficiency audits of the two plants to meet NYPA energy audit requirements. Additionally, we analyzed process and non-production energy use sales tax exemption purposes.

NYPA audit guidelines had previously required a benchmarking report and score as components of the energy audit, but it was not always possible to provide them because the EPA Portfolio Manager tool is industry specific. NYPA recently eliminated the benchmarking requirement from the energy audit and now requires an EUI score. We did, however, generate a benchmarking report and score for one of the facilities utilizing the ENERGY STAR® Fluid Milk Processing Plant Energy Performance Indicator (EPI) being developed by Duke University