Irvine Firm Set to Supply Power to Restaurants in S.D.

Irvine-based Ultrasystems Inc. said it has received a contract to provide energy-saving, co-generation plants to five restaurants in San Diego that are owned by Grace Restaurant Co.

If the test program is satisfactory to Grace, the systems eventually will be added in “as many as possible” of the company’s 389 restaurants in eight states, Ultrasystems said.

The co-generation units will be installed at five Carrows, Coco’s, Reuben’s and Reuben E. Lee restaurants in San Diego County. A sixth unit will be installed at a Carrows in Bakersfield.

San Diego was targeted by Ultrasystems as a major marketplace for its co-generation units because its electricity rates are among the highest in the nation.

Installations Under Way

“The installations are under way now at some of the locations,” according to Ultrasystems Vice President Russell Greengard. “They will (provide) as much of the base load as we can, and the restaurants will then rely on (San Diego Gas & Electric) to take care of the electric usage peaks that occur.”

However, Greengard acknowledged that the co-generation plants would become uneconomical if the state Public Utilities Commission approves SDG&E;’s proposed rate schedule.

Commercial and industrial concerns in San Diego that have turned to co-generation to reduce their electric bills have described SDG&E;’s proposed rate as effectively killing most co-generation projects.

SDG&E;’s so-called “standby charge would make it very, very difficult, if not impossible for our systems,” Greengard said. “It’s our hope that there will be some kind of logic in whatever (state regulators) approve.”

The gas-fired co-generation plants will range in size from 30 kilowatts to about 110 kilowatts, Greengard said.

Ultrasystems also announced a deal, valued at $1 million to $2 million, to provide energy management services for 122 restaurants owned by Grace. Under the agreement, Ultrasystem’s Micro Cogen Systems Inc. subsidiary will use automated equipment to pare energy costs at 122 Coco’s restaurants by monitoring and controlling the heating, cooling and lighting systems.

Restaurants around the country will install microprocessors that will be linked to the company’s energy control center in San Diego. The company has about 25 employees in San Diego.

Ultrasystems anticipates that installation and sales of the micropower plants at Grace restaurants and at other facilities could add as much as $20 million to its annual revenue by 1989, said Greengard.

The mini power plants use a natural-gas-powered engine that drives a generator to produce electricity, hot water and air conditioning. The co-generation units will provide most of the power used by the restaurants. However, the restaurants will turn to SDG&E; during peak electrical demand periods.