By Jessica Christensen
Starting July 17, Smith''s Food & Drug stores will reduce their energy consumption by 50 percent in response to Governor Mike Leavitt''s statewide energy conservation initiative, PowerForward.
Marsha Gilford, assistant vice president in charge of public affairs, said all 114 Smith''s stores will be 'powered down' by July 31.
Smith''s marketing director Brian Van Klaveren said Smith''s stores are reducing energy consumption by putting tighter door seals on their refrigerators and freezers and making sure the doors are always shut.
'Our meat-wrapping stations, our equipment, our bakery ovens, stuff like that we use during the day, we''re making sure that those things are turned off and not burning electricity at night when they''re not in use,' Van Klaveren said.
'This PowerForward thing is to be more efficient on energy consumption so we''ll have enough to go around,' Van Klaveren said.
'It''s strictly voluntary and Smith''s jumped right on it,' he said. 'They figure that out of 114 stores, the energy that we will save by cutting our floor lighting down 50 percent will be enough energy to supply about 1,000 family homes.'
Van Klaveren said that half of the lights were turned off by the store''s maintenance personnel.
'Customers are not likely to notice the change, but the employees can see the difference,' Van Klaveren said. He said that Smith''s will not lower the prices of groceries because of the money saved on electricity.
Smith''s shopper Betty Roberts from Idaho thinks the project sounds great, that saving energy is a good thing. She hadn''t noticed anything different in the store and said nothing interfered with her shopping.
Provo resident and Smith''s shopper Georgia Rich noticed that the store seems quieter. She also said that conserving energy is fun.
'We all need to be careful,' Rich said. 'Awareness is where it is. If you''re aware, paying attention, you can go along with it and it''s fun. You kind of make a game out of it.'
'Whatever we can do to help the community out, to make sure that my customers, neighbors and their families have enough power to go around,' Van Klaveren said. We want to be a good neighbor and we''re genuinely concerned about the energy problem that the country is having right now.'
Smith''s is not the only store to respond to Gov. Leavitt''s PowerForward initiative. An Albertson''s store manager said that they started the program two months ago and, despite some complaints from customers about the poor lighting, the stores are continuing to conserve energy.