Plum Creek Timber goes Green with AdaptiVolt™

November 25, 2009

Columbia Falls, Montana -- PCS UtiliData today announced the energy savings achieved from the deployment of its AdaptiVolt™ Industrial Voltage Optimization system at Plum Creek's Columbia Falls Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) production facility.  "Plum Creek continues to work to reduce the impact of its operations," said Tom Ray, Vice President Northwest Operations for Plum Creek.

To mechanically refine sawdust and woodchips in the board-making process "takes a significant amount of electricity," said Ray.  The AdaptiVolt™ Industrial Voltage Optimization system is reducing the facility's energy demand by 3.8 percent and saving Plum Creek 5.7 million kilowatt hours per year; enough energy to power nearly 600 average American households each year.

Ray noted, "It was important to provide the necessary voltage requirements to support our manufacturing process at multiple locations throughout the plant."  The AdaptiVolt™ Industrial Voltage Optimization system monitors voltage levels at motor control centers and other important process loads inside the facility and then optimizes the incoming voltage from the local electric utility, resulting in increased energy efficiency of the utilization devices in the facility, including lights, computer power supplies, induction motors, and a set of high-horsepower synchronous motors.

"The voltage levels throughout the plant fluctuate based on production schedules," said Thomas Wilson, President of PCS UtiliData.  "The real-time monitoring and closed-loop feedback control of the plant's electric distribution system provided by AdaptiVolt™ ensures that all of Plum Creek's process loads are receiving proper voltage support.  In addition, the AdaptiVolt™ system ensures that Plum Creek's synchronous motors operate efficiently without approaching pull-out torque that would damage the motors."

PCS UtiliData is a Smart Grid solutions provider, specializing in automated Volt/Var Optimization for utility and consumer applications to reduce demand and increase energy efficiency.  As a founding member of the Control and Information Systems Integrators Association, PCS UtiliData has been committed to providing world class products and services to a wide range of satisfied clients in the energy and utility automation industry for over 20 years.

Plum Creek Rewarded for Saving Energy -- Daily Interlake, November 13, 2009

Plum Creek Unveils New Technology -- KAJ18 Television, Kalispell, MT, November 12, 2009

A Greener and More Efficient Plum Creek -- Flathead Beacon, November 10, 2009

An Industrial Re-Volt! -- Flathead Electric Cooperative, LightReading, November 2009

Saving MegaWatts with Voltage Optimization -- Industrial Energy Technology Conference, June 2010