Supermarket chain slashes costs with new lighting


Electrical Commissioning In Industrial Power Systems

Our customized live online or in‑person group training can be delivered to your staff at your location.

  • Live Online
  • 12 hours Instructor-led
  • Group Training Available
Regular Price:
$599
Coupon Price:
$499
Reserve Your Seat Today
Texas-based United Supermarkets, LLC, has retrofitted low- and medium-temperature refrigerated display cases in all of its 47 stores with a GE ecomagination product – a light-emitting diode (LED) solution from Lumination, a GE Consumer & Industrial business.

The Lumination LED Refrigerated Display Lighting solution replaces United SupermarketÂ’s traditional fluorescent lamps. In all, United retrofitted more than 3,600 doors in its reach-in door merchandisers with the GE LED solution.

United expects to save more than $633,000 annually in energy and maintenance savings ($369,000 in energy savings and $264,000 in maintenance savings).

“Lowering our energy costs is very important to us,” says Michael Molina, vice president of facilities and design at United Supermarkets. “The LED retrofit in our refrigerated coolers is providing significant energy savings.”

The expected payback is 1.8 years through energy savings and many years of virtually maintenance-free service with a rated life of up to 50,000 hours. The LEDs also provide uniform color and up to three times the light-level uniformity of fluorescent lamps.

The GE LEDs can be turned off at night without any adverse effect on performance or lifetime. For United Supermarkets, that capability means it has reduced the total hours of operation for the lighting in its refrigerated coolers from 24 hours each day with fluorescent lamps to 16 hours per day with LEDs.

The combined environmental impact of the 47-store retrofit represents an annual 2.9-million pound reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. It also equals the good that comes from planting more than 364 acres of trees or removing about 257 cars from the road for every year the LED lighting operates in place of fluorescent lighting.

Related News

Pacific Northwest's Renewable Energy Goals Hindered

Pacific Northwest Transmission Bottleneck slows clean energy progress as BPA's aging grid constrains renewable interconnections,…
View more

Heating and Electricity Costs in Germany Set to Rise

Germany 2025 Energy Costs forecast electricity and heating price trends amid gas volatility, renewables expansion,…
View more

Maritime Link sends first electricity between Newfoundland, Nova Scotia

Maritime Link HVDC Transmission connects Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to the North American grid, enabling…
View more

Wind power making gains as competitive source of electricity

Canada Wind Energy Costs are plunging as renewable energy auctions, CfD contracts, and efficient turbines…
View more

A new nuclear reactor in the U.S. starts up. It's the first in nearly seven years

Vogtle Unit 3 Initial Criticality marks the startup of a new U.S. nuclear reactor, initiating…
View more

SaskPower reports $205M income in 2019-20, tables annual report

SaskPower 2019-20 Annual Report highlights $205M net income, grid capacity upgrades, emissions reduction progress, Chinook…
View more

Sign Up for Electricity Forum’s Newsletter

Stay informed with our FREE Newsletter — get the latest news, breakthrough technologies, and expert insights, delivered straight to your inbox.

Electricity Today T&D Magazine Subscribe for FREE

Stay informed with the latest T&D policies and technologies.
  • Timely insights from industry experts
  • Practical solutions T&D engineers
  • Free access to every issue

Download the 2026 Electrical Training Catalog

Explore 50+ live, expert-led electrical training courses –

  • Interactive
  • Flexible
  • CEU-cerified