Thanks to $50,000 from the California Air Resources Board’s Fluorinated Gas Reduction Incentive Program, Stater Bros. Markets installed a climate-friendly refrigeration system at a new supermarket in Whittier that will result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 1,000 vehicles off the road for one year. Since refrigerants are among the fastest growing climate pollutants worldwide, it is important to support projects like this to demonstrate that transitioning the grocery sector toward cleaner refrigerants is an effective strategy for mitigating climate change.
When Stater Bros. Markets opened its Whittier store with the new refrigeration system in November 2021 it marked the company’s first climate-friendly refrigeration system across its fleet of 171 stores in Southern California. This store, which is in a disadvantaged and low-income community, will undergo a year of data collection provided by the Emerging Technology Program, administered by Southern California Edison. The data collected at this site and other Fluorinated Gas Reduction Incentive Program sites will help build a repository of publicly available information about the performance of these new technologies.
“The Emerging Technologies Program is focused on investigating emerging and underutilized technologies like the next-generation refrigeration system adopted by Stater Bros. Markets,” Sean Gouw, project manager at Southern California Edison, said. “We’re excited to collaborate with California Air Resources Board and help move the retail food sector towards a low-carbon future.”
In collaboration with a technician union and the refrigeration system installer, Stater Bros. Markets will conduct trainings on its next-generation refrigeration systems, helping combat the market-wide shortage of technicians familiar with this technology. Stater Bros. Markets will also share its experience with industry to help identify any challenges related to implementing the technology.