DOWNEY, Calif., Jan 09, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

As part of its global commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability, Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) is nearly complete with a major lighting retrofit project to reduce energy consumption in its California facilities. The project will decrease CCE's energy consumption for lighting by 5.6 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) a year, with the potential to decrease 113 million kilowatt-hours over the 20-year life of the new system. This is enough electricity to power 537 homes annually. The project has earned CCE the Orion Energy Systems (Nasdaq: OESX) Environmental Stewardship Award, which was presented today by Orion's executive vice president Michael Potts to Coca-Cola Enterprises' executives during a ceremony at its Downey, Calif., production facility.

Public officials who attended the event and addressed the audience included the Mayor of the City of Downey, California, Dn. Mario Guerra, 27^th District California State Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Deputy District Director Araceli Gonzalez and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein's Field Representative Elizabeth Delgado. Also in attendance were City of Downey 3rd District Councilman Roger Brossmer and 5^th District Councilman Luis Marquez.

Campbell Hawkins, manager of energy efficiency for Southern California Edison, the utility that provides power to many of Coca-Cola Enterprises' California facilities, applauded CCE for its commitment to energy efficiency. Hawkins also cited the importance of working together with companies like Coca-Cola Enterprises and Orion Energy Systems to reduce pressure on California's strained electrical grid.

The project entailed replacing more than 4,000 high-intensity discharge (HID) and fluorescent lights with Orion's Compact Modular^TM, high-intensity fluorescent (HIF) system at 24 Coca-Cola Enterprises facilities throughout California. CCE also has installed solar power generating panels on the roof of its Los Angeles facility, has committed to make all sales and marketing equipment on average 20 percent more energy efficient by 2010, and has ten hybrid electric trucks delivering product to customers throughout Los Angeles. In all, CCE has 142 hybrid electric delivery trucks, giving it the largest fleet of heavy-duty hybrid delivery trucks in North America.

Coca-Cola Enterprises has established five strategic focus areas, three of which - energy conservation/climate change, water stewardship, and sustainable packaging/recycling - are related to the environment. CCE remains focused on conserving water in its operations and is in the process of installing water-efficient technology such as container rinsers that use ionized air rather than water, silicon-based dry lubricants on its production lines and water reclamation upgrades. Additionally, the company has worked to increase recycling rates nationwide through the work of Coca-Cola Recycling.

"At Coca-Cola Enterprises, corporate responsibility and sustainability is where the world touches our business and where our business touches the world," said Terry Fitch, general manager and vice president of Coca-Cola Enterprises' West Business Unit. "We're doing everything we can to help reduce our carbon footprint in California and across the country, because we believe that responsible and sustainable business practices like this will not only help us manage through these complex times but will also ensure the long-term growth of our company, sustainable development in our communities, and protection of the environment."

As a result of the 5.6 million kWh annual reduction generated from the lighting retrofit, Coca-Cola Enterprises will help to divert 3,715 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from entering the atmosphere each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Also, Coca-Cola Enterprises will reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) released by 15 tons per year and the amount of nitrogen oxides (NO_X) by five tons per year. The power use reduction is the air-scrubbing equivalent of planting a 1,038-acre forest or the energy equivalent of saving 466,962 gallons of gasoline each year.

The environmental benefits and energy cost savings of the Coca-Cola Enterprises project are possible because Orion fixtures are engineered based on the dual principles of optimizing input energy and maximizing lighting output. Orion's patented high-intensity fluorescent lighting platform uses about 50 percent less energy and provides 50 percent more light than traditional high-intensity discharge lights, which have been the industry norm since approximately 1960. Orion systems turn on instantly, provide a more natural type of light, and operate at a relatively cool 110 degrees.

"Coca-Cola Enterprises is fast becoming one of the leaders in responsible and sustainable business practices," said Michael Potts, executive vice president of Orion. "The State of California benefits from the environmental attributes of Coca-Cola Enterprises' efforts, including taking significant power off the electrical grid which tends to lessen the upward pressure that exists on power prices and the need for new power plants."

"Lighting accounts for 55 percent of the energy we use in our sales and distribution centers and ten percent in our production facilities. Therefore, reducing our lighting energy use by half makes good economic sense for us because it creates operational efficiencies while protecting the environment," added Fitch.

"This is an historic moment," said California State Senator Alan Lowenthal. "What we are experiencing here today is a major paradigm shift. Corporate citizens such as Coca-Cola Enterprises and Orion Energy Systems are saying the solution to pollution is prevention. The solution to pollution is sustainability. The solution to pollution is reducing our carbon footprint. Great corporate citizens like Coca-Cola Enterprises - that is how the United States will lead the world, so I am just really pleased to be here."

Orion's energy efficient technology platform includes its Compact Modular^TM high-intensity fluorescent lighting system, the InteLite^TM wireless control system and the direct renewable Apollo^TM solar light pipe, all of which are installed as an integrated system in the Downey facility warehouse. The integrated system was recently internationally recognized with the prestigious Platts Global Energy award for the single most innovative and sustainable technology of 2008. The system can reduce energy consumption for lighting in a commercial/industrial facility for up to ten hours a day during daylight hours when the electric grid is operating at or near peak capacity.

Orion has deployed its energy management systems in 4,068 facilities across North America including 108 of the Fortune 500 companies. Since 2001, Orion technology has displaced more than 386 megawatts, saving customers more than $455 million and reducing indirect carbon dioxide emissions by 4 million tons.

About Orion Energy Systems, Inc.

Orion Energy Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OESX) is a leading power technology enterprise that designs, manufactures and implements energy management systems, consisting primarily of high-performance, energy-efficient lighting systems, controls and related services for commercial and industrial customers without compromising their quantity or quality of light. For more information, visit www.oriones.com.

About Coca-Cola Enterprises

Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world's largest marketer, distributor, and producer of bottle and can liquid nonalcoholic refreshment. CCE sells approximately 80 percent of The Coca-Cola Company's bottle and can volume in North America and is the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands. For more information, please visit www.cokecce.com.

SOURCE: Orion Energy Systems, Inc.

Media Contact
Linda Diedrich
Corporate Communications
Orion Energy Systems, Inc.
(920) 482-1988
ljd@oes1.com
or
Bob Phillips
Public Affairs and Communications
Coca-Cola Enterprises
(213) 744-8653
bophillips@cokecce.com
or
Laura Brightwell
Public Affairs and Communications
Coca-Cola Enterprises
(770) 989-3023
lbrightwell@cokecce.com

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