Motor Decisions Matter Campaign

Overview: Motor Decisions Matter (MDM) is a national awareness campaign designed to promote the benefits of sound motor management to corporate and plant decision-makers. MDM sponsors – a collaborative of utilities, energy-efficiency organizations, government agencies, manufacturers, and trade associations – are working together to promote this common message to the market. Effective motor management can reduce costly downtime and save energy and money.

Motor Decisions Matter is managed and coordinated by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency.

MDM provides a single, coordinated voice in the market, explaining the benefits of motor management and planning to a variety of stakeholders. MDM’s goal is to increase the demand for premium-efficiency motors and quality motor repair services by highlighting the positive effects of good motor management on business performance.

The campaign encourages customers to work through local motor professionals and others to develop motor management plans. MDM resources help industrial and commercial customers use life-cycle costing methods to determine whether motors should be repaired or replaced before they fail and when to install premium-efficiency motors.

MDM was rolled out on June 25, 2001 , and funded by sponsors for three years. MDM sponsors have extended the campaign for another three years, beginning in 2004.

In February 2004, MDM sponsors began distribution and promotion of the 1-2-3 Approach to Motor Management, an innovative software tool that demonstrates how industrial and commercial facility managers can reduce downtime and save energy by proactively managing their motor fleets. The tool calculates the financial impact of common motor-related decisions.

About This Market: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, motor-driven equipment currently accounts for more than 2.3 quads of energy use in the manufacturing and mining industries. Since these motors consume 23 percent of all electricity sold in the United States, even small efficiency improvements can have dramatic economic and environmental consequences.

DOE studies have shown that greater attention to cost-effective applications of mature, proven motor system energy-efficiency technologies and practices can reduce motor-related energy costs by 11 to 18 percent while also boosting productivity, reliability, and profitability.

These motor management practices include specifying high-efficiency NEMA Premium® motors, following best-practice repair procedures, proactive planning for motor failure, and establishing management policies that support consistent motor repair and replacement decisions.

A motor management plan:

• reduces energy costs
• decreases downtime
• is strategic for companies
• helps capture savings opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked
• enables managers and plant personnel to react quickly and effectively to motor failure
• ensures motor availability for critical processes

Barriers: Studies have shown that relatively few people are aware of the potential benefits of motor management. A survey of Plant Engineering readers, commissioned by Motor Decisions Matter, found that:

• Only 12 percent of the respondents understood that a motor’s annual operating costs can be five to six times more than its initial purchase price.
• While 23 to 29 percent of the respondents had heard of or had specified NEMA Premium motors, only 3 percent of respondents’ companies had an official policy requiring the purchase of NEMA Premium motors.
• Among respondents who indicated that their company had implemented effective maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) policies, many did not track the energy efficiency of their motors as part of their inventory process.

Too often, decisions to repair or replace a motor are based on availability or short-term economics, rather than evaluation and planning. When motor equipment failure occurs, the highest priority is to return the equipment to service – not to optimize motor performance. This type of decision-making can result in higher operational costs, poor equipment performance and unreliable service. These consequences could be avoided if more senior managers took advantage of the opportunity to reduce costs and improve performance through better motor management.

When running continuously at or near full load, the annual energy cost for running a motor can be 10 to 25 times its purchase price. This makes the incremental price increase of a premium-efficiency motor insignificant.

Strategy: A unique coalition of organizations sponsor the Motor Decisions Matter campaign, including:

• Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA)
• National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
• Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE)
• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Motor manufacturers
• Utility and state energy-efficiency programs
• Other energy-efficiency programs

Through these organizations and their participating members, the campaign emphasizes the bottom-line benefits companies can realize by implementing sound motor management policies. In addition to significant energy savings and reduced downtime, these benefits include increased productivity, and reduced operating and maintenance budgets. The campaign strives to deliver this message in ways that senior plant and corporate management will understand and find compelling.

Benefits: Through these organizations and their participating members, MDM emphasizes the bottom-line benefits companies can realize by implementing sound motor management policies. In addition to significant energy savings and reduced downtime, these benefits include increased productivity, and reduced operating and maintenance budgets. The campaign strives to deliver this message in ways that senior plant and corporate management will understand and find compelling.

Resources: Tools, news releases, a list of sponsors (and contact information), and other resources are available on the MDM Web site.

Contact: For further information about the campaign, contact Ilene Mason at 617-589-3949, ext. 225.