AGRICULTURE: An Often-Overlooked Opportunity For Energy Conservation

Abstract

One of the most impo rtan t ag ricultural regions in the U.S, is the
P anh andl e region, the Southe rn region of America's Great Plains. In re-
c ent yea rs, there has been ren ewed in teres t in ag ricultural ene rgy effi-
ciency in the Panh a ndl e region which covers Eastern New Mexico, Texas
P anh andl e, and Okla homa Panh andl e. The declinin g pr ices for ag ricu l-
tur al pro d ucts has p romp ted local farme rs and agri businesses to con trol
cos ts so as to maintain profitabil ity. In the P anhand le region, electricity is
p rovided pr imar ily by South western Public Service (SPS) C ompan y.
Four di ffer ent type s of ag ricultural acti vities or establi shm ent s-ir-
rigati on pump ing, feed lots, grain elevators, and cotton gin s- acc ount for
over thr e e-quart ers of SPS's retail sales of electricity to the agri cultural
sector. Altho ug h the focus of this article is to explore cost-effective en-
ergy -efficiency opportunit ies in the Panhandle agricultural sector, most
of the mea sur es can be applied to othe r agricultur al regions in the U.s.