Developing an energy plan with the help of an outside firm can not only take the burden off of the small- to mid-sized restaurant chain owner, but also provide added advantages.

If there's one thing that large and small restaurant operations have in common these days, it's a shared concern about the rising cost of energy. Economic uncertainty, changing conditions in the energy market and dramatically increased demand for resources have all helped squeeze the profit margins ever thinner for restaurants.

The other thing restaurants of all sizes have in common, however, is the ability to save themselves money on energy costs. During the recent National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, Tom Sherman of The E Group told restaurant owners and managers how they can avoid feeling the heat from the volatile energy market. The E Group is a division of FirstEnergy Solutions that provides energy management services to commercial, industrial and government clients throughout the United States.

Sherman said although there are many small things that owners and managers can do to save energy, restaurants are best served by developing a comprehensive energy plan. Given the volatility of the energy market, he said restaurant owners must reevaluate their approach to their energy budgets and be prepared not to like the results. “It's not a savings game anymore, it's all about risk management,” Sherman said.

There are a number of factors that have all contributed to steeper energy costs in the past several years, Sherman said. Due to deregulation in many markets, customers are buying power from many different areas, which has caused congestion in the transmission grid. Sherman compared the state of America's transmission grid to “wiring a house with extension cords.” Oil reserves are being depleted, and Sherman said the ratio of oil consumed to oil discovered is now 4:1. An aging work force and 9/11 have resulted in higher healthcare and security costs for energy providers. China and India are using much higher levels of liquid natural gas than before. Finally, the impacts of last year's hurricanes Katrina and Rita are still being felt today.

Developing an energy plan with the help of an outside firm can not only take the burden off of the small- to mid-sized restaurant chain owner, but also provide added advantages, Sherman said.

An energy master plan should address several major areas, Sherman said: utility bill processing, data management, bill auditing, risk management, procurement strategy, conservation and budgeting.

Sherman said that with about 7,000 utilities in the United States, developing an energy plan could be a daunting task for even the largest restaurant chains. “In almost all cases, you want to outsource some of it or all of it,” he said. “You'll tap resources and tools that you don't have yourself.”

In addition to drafting a comprehensive energy plan, Sherman also detailed a number of practical energy-saving strategies that can be applied to large and small chains alike. Sherman suggested that windows with significant southern, eastern or western exposure should not only have awnings over them, but they should also be protected with shaded films. These films should keep radiant heat from being absorbed in the summer and keep heat inside buildings in the winter, Sherman said. Awning or canopy systems for outdoor dining areas also protect buildings from radiant heat.

To save money on lighting, Sherman said restaurants should pay close attention to their parking lot lights, because the time of day they come on usually sets the peak demand for the day. He said the best choices for parking lot lighting are metal-halide and high-pressure sodium lamps.

For restaurants with locations in high-demand areas, Sherman said owners should consider the number of compressors they have on the roofs of their buildings. A controller may be able to cycle the compressors so that one is off at all times, reducing energy use.