JEROME, IDAHO – Idaho Milk Products secured a $177,000 cash incentive for its ongoing sustainability work focused on reduced energy consumption.

Idaho Power, which awarded the dairy manufacturer, said its partnership with Idaho Milk Products has resulted in energy savings while completing “several efficiency projects.”

Morgan Ewonus, project engineer at Idaho Milk Products, said that the company completed in late 2020 a compressor upgrade and powdered product transport system upgrade, but those could not be verified at completion due to pandemic-related restrictions in place at the time. Ewonus explained that the baseline compressed air system involved four air-cooled screw compressors using load/unload control with 600 horsepower. She said one 200 horsepower compressor was replaced with a 350 horsepower nominal centrifugal compressor.

“Using a centrifugal compressor instead of multiple load/unload screw compressors increases system efficiency,” Ewonus said. “Additionally, a portion of the produced powdered product was previously transported from process equipment to storage silos using a pulsed compressed air transport system. A blower that produces the required airflow to suspend the powder in the transport pipe at a lower delivery pressure was installed and uses significantly less power.”

Idaho Milk Products said that sustainability is at the core of its business approach and that the company is “dedicated to the continuous improvement of efficient and sustainable processes that support our business, community and environment.”

The company’s leadership shared that its commitment on those fronts entails updating its plant, equipment and operations “to reduce emissions and improve efficiency as more environmentally friendly technology becomes available.”