ELECTRICITY RESTRUCTURING - A COST-SAVING STRATEGY FOR METAL FINISHERS

Metal finishing shops are in a good position to benefit from the comin g electric utility restructuring, This is true for two reasons: First, metal finishers are large electricity users and, in general, have amp le opportunities to increase their energy efficiency, Second, the indu stry is generally well organized in terms of regional and national ind ustry associations, including local and state chapters of the National Association of Metal Finishers (NAMF), the American Electroplaters an d Surface Finishers Society (AESF) and the Metal Finishing Suppliers A ssociation (MFSA), Local and regional associations can, in principle, act as aggregators for local metal finishing shops to make it easier t o negotiate rate reductions when purchasing electricity, What follows is a summary report of a study compiled by the authors.