Washington — March 14, 2024 (EPA release) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized 103 U.S. manufacturing plants that earned the agency’s ENERGY STAR certification in 2023, a designation reserved for manufacturing plants in the top 25% of energy efficiency in their sector. Together, these plants prevented more than 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the emissions from the electricity use of more than 1.5 million American homes.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is breathing new life into energy efficient domestic manufacturing, and industry partners like those recognized today are leading the way,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These ENERGY STAR certified plants demonstrate that cutting the embodied carbon of our industrial products through energy efficiency doesn’t just make environmental sense, it makes economic sense.”
The industrial sector accounts for 30% of U.S. greenhouse emissions, primarily from energy use in manufacturing plants. ENERGY STAR certified plants have reduced their energy use through a variety of energy efficiency projects and management practices. For example:
- Ardagh's Houston, Texas, container glass facility operated a highly efficient furnace, used recycled glass, and installed energy-efficient lighting fixtures, among other initiatives.
- Bimbo Bakeries USA installed advanced controls and high-efficiency burners in ovens, oxidizers, and boilers and expanded investments in metering systems, enabling real-time monitoring and control of energy usage.
- Ash Grove’s Seattle, Wash., cement plant saved energy by increasing the amount of limestone in its Portland Limestone cement, thereby reducing energy needed for clinker production, and improving equipment automation.
- GCC's Rapid City, S.D., cement plant upgraded its preheater and improved kiln combustion efficiency. This plant and GCC’s Pueblo, Colo., cement plant integrated alternative fuels, lowering carbon dioxide emissions while maintaining high levels of energy efficiency.
- J.R. Simplot Company’s Helm, Calif., nitrogenous fertilizer plant commissioned an on-site, one-megawatt solar photovoltaic project, reducing source energy consumption and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions.
- Koch Fertilizer’s Beatrice, Neb., fertilizer plant reduced steam use and the number of continuously running pumps, while the Enid, Okla., plant improved steam utilization and implemented advanced process controls.
- Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s Anacortes, Wash., refinery reduced steam trap failures by more than 20% by equipping operators with handheld trap-testing devices to instantly identify leaks. The St. Paul Park, Minn., refinery completed a three-year effort to reinforce insulation across the entire site, cutting carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions by close to 16,000 metric tons per year.
- Nissan North America, Inc., replaced more than 20,000 light fixtures with LEDs across all U.S. manufacturing sites and conducted a combination of energy treasure hunts and third-party assessments targeting energy efficiency.
Manufacturing plants use the EPA’s ENERGY STAR energy performance indicators or, in the case of petroleum refineries, the Solomon Associates Energy Intensity Index scoring system, to assess their energy performance. Plants that score at least 75 out of 100 — indicating that they are more energy efficient than 75% of similar facilities nationwide — are eligible to earn ENERGY STAR certification.
ENERGY STAR certification is available for 21 manufacturing sectors, from cement and steel to glass and commercial bakeries. More than 270 plants have achieved ENERGY STAR certification since 2006.
All ENERGY STAR certified manufacturing plants in 2023:
*Denotes first time certified plant
Alabama:
Georgia-Pacific Brewton Containerboard (integrated paper mill)
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Lincoln (automobile engine)
Hunt Refining Company, Tuscaloosa (petroleum refining)*
Tuscaloosa Organic Baking Co. (commercial bread and roll baking)
Arkansas:
Flowers Baking Co. of Batesville (commercial bread and roll baking)
Arizona:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Phoenix (commercial bread and roll baking)
Bristol Myers Squibb, Phoenix (pharmaceutical)*
CalPortland Company, Rillito (cement manufacturing)
Drake Cement, Paulden (cement manufacturing)
Holsum Bakery of Tolleson (commercial bread and roll baking)
Mesa Organic Baking Co., Mesa (commercial bread and roll baking)
Salt River Materials Group, Clarkdale (cement manufacturing)
California:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Escondido (commercial bread and roll baking)
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., San Luis Obispo (commercial bread and roll baking)
CalPortland Company, Redding (cement manufacturing)
J.R. Simplot Company, Helm (nitrogenous fertilizer)
Colorado:
Canyon Bakehouse, Johnstown (commercial bread and roll baking)*
GCC, Pueblo (cement manufacturing)
Rocky Mountain Bottle Company, Wheat Ridge (container glass manufacturing)
Delaware:
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Newark (pharmaceutical)
Florida:
Titan America LLC, Medley (cement manufacturing)
Georgia:
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Tallapoosa (automobile transmission)
Flowers Bakery of Suwanee (commercial bread and roll baking)*
Iowa:
Iowa Fertilizer Company, LLC, Wever (nitrogenous fertilizer)
Illinois:
ExxonMobil Joliet Refinery, Channahon (petroleum refining)
Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Robinson (petroleum refining)
TreeHouse Foods, Inc., South Beloit (cookie & cracker baking)
Indiana:
CountryMark Refining & Logistics, Mount Vernon (petroleum refining)*
General Motors Fort Wayne Assembly (automobile assembly)
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Greensburg (automobile assembly)
Kansas:
CHS Inc, McPherson (petroleum refining)*
Kentucky:
Bardstown Bourbon Company Distillery, Bardstown (distilling)*
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., London (commercial bread and roll baking)
Heaven Hill Bernheim Distillery, Louisville (distilling)*
MGP/Luxco Distillery, Bardstown (distilling)*
Heaven’s Door Distillery, LLC, Pleasureville (distilling)*
Rabbit Hole Distillery, Louisville (distilling)*
TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Princeton (cookie & cracker baking)
Louisiana:
ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery (petroleum refining)
Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Garyville (petroleum refining)
Massachusetts:
Bristol Myers Squibb, Devens (pharmaceutical)*
Maine:
Lepage Bakeries Park Street, Lewiston (commercial bread and roll baking)
Michigan:
AbbVie, Wyandotte (pharmaceutical)
General Motors Flint Assembly (automobile assembly)
Minnesota:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Fergus Falls (commercial bread and roll baking)
Flint Hills Resources, Pine Bend (petroleum refining)
Lamb Weston/RDO Frozen, Park Rapids (frozen fried potato processing)
Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Saint Paul Park (petroleum refining)
Missouri:
Buzzi Unicem USA, Festus (cement manufacturing)
Mississippi:
Georgia-Pacific, New Augusta (pulp mill)
Nissan North America, Canton (automobile assembly)
Nebraska:
Koch Fertilizer, Beatrice (nitrogenous fertilizer)
New Jersey:
AbbVie, Branchburg (pharmaceutical)
North Carolina:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Gastonia (commercial bread and roll baking)
Nevada:
Flowers Baking Co. of Henderson (commercial bread and roll baking)
New York:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Auburn (commercial bread and roll baking)
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Olean (commercial bread and roll baking)
TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Tonawanda (cookie & cracker baking)
Ohio:
Bimbo QSR Ohio, Airport, Zanesville (commercial bread and roll baking)
Bimbo QSR Ohio, Eastpointe, Zanesville (commercial bread and roll baking)
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Anna (automobile engine)
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, East Liberty (automobile assembly)
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Marysville (automobile assembly)
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Russells Point (automobile transmission)
Klosterman Baking Company, Springboro (commercial bread and roll baking)
Klosterman Baking Company, Cincinnati (commercial bread and roll baking)
Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Canton (petroleum refining)
Oklahoma:
Koch Fertilizer, Enid (nitrogenous fertilizer)
Pennsylvania:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Reading (commercial bread and roll baking)
Puerto Rico:
AbbVie, Barceloneta (pharmaceutical)*
Merck & Co., Inc., Las Piedras (pharmaceutical)
South Dakota:
GCC, Rapid City (cement manufacturing)
Tennessee:
Brown Forman’s Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow Prop., Inc., Lynchburg (distilling)*
Buzzi Unicem USA, Chattanooga (cement manufacturing)
Crown Bakeries, Nashville (commercial bread and roll baking)
Crown Bakeries, Dickson (commercial bread and roll baking)
Nissan North America, Decherd (automobile engine)
Nissan North America, Smyrna (automobile assembly)
Primient, Loudon (corn refining)
Texas:
AbbVie, Waco (pharmaceutical)
Ardagh Glass Inc., Houston (container glass manufacturing)*
Barcel USA, Coppell (cookie & cracker baking)
CITGO Petroleum Corp., Corpus Christi (petroleum refining)
ExxonMobil Beaumont Complex (petroleum refining)
Flowers Baking Co. of Houston (commercial bread and roll baking)
Flowers Baking Co. of Tyler (commercial bread and roll baking)
Flowers Baking Co. of El Paso (commercial bread and roll baking)
Heaven Hill’s Deep Eddy Vodka Distillery, Buda (distilling)*
Leeland Baking Co., Houston (commercial bread and roll baking)*
PEMEX, Deer Park (petroleum refining)*
Utah:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Salt Lake City (commercial bread and roll baking)
TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Odgen (cookie and cracker baking)
Virginia:
Lynchburg Organic Baking Co. (commercial bread and roll baking)
Flowers Baking Co. of Norfolk (commercial bread and roll baking)
Roanoke Cement Company LLC, a subsidiary of Titan America LLC, Troutville (cement manufacturing)
Washington:
Ash Grove Cement, Seattle (cement manufacturing)
Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Anacortes (petroleum refining)
Par Pacific, Tacoma (petroleum refining)*
Westland Whiskey Distillery, South Seattle (distilling)*
Wisconsin:
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Oconomowoc (commercial bread and roll baking)
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., La Crosse (commercial bread and roll baking)
Wyoming:
J.R. Simplot Company, Rock Springs (nitrogenous fertilizer)
Par Pacific, Newcastle (petroleum refining)*
About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations — including nearly 40% of the Fortune 500 — rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.
For more information, see:
ENERGY STAR program impacts
ENERGY STAR plant certification
ENERGY STAR Certified Building and Plant Locator
