The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes General Motors Co. (GM) for achieving 50001 Ready recognition at 25 of its U.S. manufacturing plants for three years in a row, with two additional sites added in 2021. GM is a leader in some of the world’s largest and fastest-growing automotive markets and employs more than 164,000 people worldwide. Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, the company designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes vehicles and parts under the brand names Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC.

DOE’s 50001 Ready program provides no-cost tools and guidance for facilities to implement energy management systems that help lower energy use, cost, and emissions. The Department offers formal recognition when companies self-attest completion of the 25 tasks contained in the 50001 Ready Navigator tool. Each task provides step-by-step guidance that is grouped into seven sections targeting the context of an organization, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation and improvement to help organizations develop a tailored energy management system.

Managing energy is fundamental to a facility’s efforts to manage its climate impacts. Improved energy efficiency translates into material efficiency, water efficiency, and less waste. At the national level, systematic energy management by industrial, institutional, and commercial facilities, many of which have very energy-intensive processes, is a fundamental step on the nation’s path to a clean energy future.

GM energy teams uncovered significant opportunities to improve energy performance. For example, discussions with plant workers led the engineers to begin using electric fans instead of compressed air to dry auto parts—a move that is expected to save more than $100,000 annually. 

“50001 Ready has proven critical in managing operations at GM efficiently throughout this year’s challenges and positioned us well to meet our net-zero 2050 goals. Our implementation enabled us to establish common processes and procedures to increase efficiency, optimize production, and aid in effective remote troubleshooting. These actions have been indispensable in supporting GM’s responsiveness to the operational variabilities and challenges introduced by the COVID 19 pandemic.”

–     Bob Baird, Energy Sustainment Manager, General Motors 

Learn more about how GM is building a culture around energy management with 50001 Ready to help optimize efficiency, achieve decarbonization goals and scale success nationally. The 50001 Ready program is managed by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office.

Learn about the 50001 Ready Program here: /50001ready and explore the 50001 Ready Navigator tool: https://navigator.lbl.gov/