American Color

American Color Graphics in Marengo, Iowa, depends on continuity in its electrical power to keep its business running smoothly. The company prints retail inserts, direct mail, catalogs, comics and an assortment of other pieces for customers across the United States.

In 1986, American Color Graphics made the decision to add on an on-site backup generator to handle its facility’s load during power outages and to be prepared in the event of a weather-related interruption.

Industrial Energy Applications (IEA) installed a 1,500 kW diesel generator, which IEA owns, operates and maintains based off a shared-savings agreement with American Color Graphics. The interruptible program helps the business pay for their generation.

During the past 14 years, the company added two additional generators for a total standby generation capacity of 3 MW. IEA provides American Color Graphics with 24/7 monitoring service through its state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.

“Having on-site backup generation gives us peace of mind.”

To safeguard its operations, American Color Graphics uses “storm runs.” When severe weather approaches (e.g., lightning, high winds, freezing rain, heavy snowfall, etc.), American Color Print proactively starts the generators and transfers its load from the utility, isolating the facility from any induced faults or storm damage that may cause a utility outage. Once the storm has passed, the facility is transferred back to the utility and the generators are shut down.

“Having on-site backup generation gives us peace of mind knowing our presses will remain running and our customers will receive their order on time,” said Erick Calderwood, electrical coordinator for American Color Graphics. “There’s no concern about lost revenue or lost productivity when bad weather is forecast.” In the past two years, IEA ran the generation system at American Color Graphics during periods of utility interruption.

“We value the strong relationship that we have with American Color Graphics,” says Steve Kent, Senior Electrical Engineer at IEA. “We’re glad that we can offer a solution that fits their needs and helps them remain profitable.”