Cargill Turkey Products:
Food Manufacturing Utility Bill Audit

Cargill Turkey Products operates a 330,000-square-foot processing plant with 1,200 employees, producing 7.4 million pounds of product every week. In a highly competitive industry, passing cost increases on to consumers is rarely an option — making internal cost management critical to staying profitable.

With volatile commodity markets already driving up feed prices, rising utility rates added further pressure to the plant’s bottom line. Electricity alone represented a major operating expense — over $2 million per year across two large electric accounts. Leadership challenged the team to find cost-saving opportunities without disrupting operations.

Karen, Cargill’s Energy Manager, turned to Utility Management Services (UMS) for a no-risk utility bill audit. After providing a copy of each account’s recent bills, UMS analysts got to work off-site — analyzing the plant’s specific usage patterns, demand characteristics, and available rate structures.

The analysts identified lower pricing options and more favorable contract terms than Cargill was currently receiving. UMS negotiated and executed a new Power Purchase Agreement directly with the power provider on Cargill’s behalf — no operational changes, no equipment upgrades, no disruption to the plant floor.

The result: $197,000 in annual savings across both electric accounts — dollars that went straight back into improving the plant’s bottom line. Karen earned well-deserved recognition from management for initiating the project.