Power plan to slash shed costs

The plan divides up electricity pricing into bands across the day that take into account the varying loads of a working dairy shed.

Genesis says it should save 5% to 25% on a shed’s electricity costs, depending on whether the farmer continues operating the shed exactly as before or shifts what loads he can to the off-peak periods.

The plan, branded For Dairy, is being marketed to farmers through Fonterra’s Farm Source.

Genesis executive general manager James Magill says For Dairy recognises that the way dairy farmers use electricity is far from standard.

“We know the milking shed is central to a dairy farming business and that the electricity it uses is at off-peak and shoulder times of the day, when everyone else is sleeping or at work. Essentially we’re rewarding farmers for using energy when no one else is.

“We’ve created a tool to show exactly how For Dairy works and bring its benefits to life for dairy farmers. It graphs and forecasts their electricity use and savings, allowing for seasonal variations and usage patterns during a typical milking day,” says Magill.

Fonterra Farm Source group director Richard Allen says energy costs farmers a lot of money, “so we’ve been focused on finding the best deal for our farmers and it’s great to have Genesis on board and investing in innovations to enable this”.

Magill says one participating farmers reviewed his usage and realised an immediate cost saving. 

“Instead of leaving the water pump running around the clock, we suggested he get a timer so he could set it to turn on when he needed it, which was during off-peak times, getting the pump warmed up right before the milking schedule and allowing it to cool down soon after.”

Genesis will also give dairy farmers greater transparency by splitting out the network charges from the energy charges. – Nigel Malthus