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Walmart has saved more than $100 million in energy costs after installing more than 1.5 million LED light fixtures at its stores, industry publication Electric Light & Power reports.
The company announced its energy savings at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York earlier this month. Walmart executives said that through its partnership with Current by GE, lighting fixtures at more than 6,000 separate stores, parking lots, distribution centers and corporate offices received LED lighting upgrades that contributed to the energy savings, according to 20 Electric Light & Power.
“Energy is one of the key operating expenses that we can reduce while delivering system upgrades that improve the customer shopping experience,” Mark Vanderhelm, Walmart’s vice president of energy says. “The ripple effect from these LED conversions throughout the business is truly staggering.”
Walmart and GE have been working in tandem to reduce energy costs for about a decade, the article states. Now, the two companies are focused on upgrading the lighting at every Walmart distribution center in the U.S and replace all in-store overhead lighting with LED options.
“We believe the global LED and controls transformation is paving the way for the next generation of smart retail, where steady advancement toward new digital solutions will continue improving the shopping experience,” president and CEO of Current by GE Maryrose Sylvester says.
Since 2010, Walmart has reduced its energy consumption by 12 percent per square foot. Upgrading to LED lighting is one facet of the big-box retailer’s plan to reduce overall energy consumption by 18 percent by the end of 2025, Electric Light & Power reports.
