BPA supports local beverage company with juicy energy efficiency project

Through its Energy Smart Industrial program, BPA recently partnered with Benton Public Utility District and Milne Fruit to bring an energy-saving pasteurization innovation to fruition.

Milne Fruit—a fruit juice and puree company in Prosser, Washington— implemented an efficient design in its pasteurization process that extends the shelf life of its products while saving natural gas and electricity. The new process uses a heat recovery system that captures excess heat from pasteurized products and transfers it to fresh products entering the plant. This enables Milne's equipment to use less natural gas when preheating new fruit products and use less electricity while cooling pasteurized goods.

In partnership with utility customers, BPA's Energy Smart Industrial program provides energy efficiency incentives and technical support to the region's industries. As part of this effort, BPA approved funding in January 2025 for Benton PUD to help implement Milne Fruit's energy-saving pasteurization project. BPA's involvement allows the agency to promote energy efficiency in the Northwest and maximize the value of the Federal Columbia River Power System.

Energy Smart Industrial Program partner Austin Rogers worked closely with Milne Fruit to identify how this new process would generate electrical energy savings.

“Milne Fruit's new process is about recovering as much heat as possible from the pasteurized products," Rogers said. “By removing excess heat from the pasteurized products, less electrical energy is required by the chiller to cool the finished products. That is where the electrical energy savings come in."

The total electrical energy savings from the project are considerable. Milne Fruit's annual energy savings from the project are calculated to be 153,000 kilowatt-hours, reducing facility electricity costs by about $7,600 every year, plus the additional natural gas cost savings.

“Most other projects involve retrofits to existing equipment, where the utility supports the upgrade to reduce the electrical energy consumption of that system," said Rogers. “However, this project involved a creative energy-efficient design for the new process equipment."

This tailored approach revealed substantial savings potential and highlights how BPA's program offerings can support deeper, more cost-effective energy efficiency gains for industrial customers that choose to implement innovative solutions.

“It goes to show how flexible BPA's ESI program is," said Rogers. “We work across a variety of industries to support process-oriented energy efficiency opportunities. Just because a process is unique does not mean we cannot find ways to save energy, measure the savings and pay an incentive."

Terry Mapes, power and energy programs analyst for Benton PUD, sees this collaborative project with Milne Fruit and BPA as a glowing demonstration of the program's ability to empower public utility districts like Benton PUD to incentivize energy efficient solutions. “This is a great example of a strategic collaboration between a public utility and BPA in support of one of Benton PUD's key industrial customers," he said.