Lowville’s Kraft Heinz plant to use estimated $22 million federal award to reduce carbon emissions

LOWVILLE, N.Y. — The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) plant in Lowville will use an estimated $22 million federal grant award to “upgrade, electrify, and decarbonize its heating process to significantly reduce” carbon emissions.

The Lowville facility in Lewis County is among 10 Kraft Heinz sites across the country that will use a total of nearly $171 million for similar work, the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) announced Monday.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Demonstrations Program is awarding the funding, Schumer’s office said. Kraft Heinz Company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Schumer said the funding is from the Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. It seeks to help accelerate the North Country plant’s adoption of clean energy to lower greenhouse–gas emissions, while “creating good-paying construction jobs to strengthen the plant boosting the local economy and environment.”

“This is a major win for Lewis County and our Upstate NY’s dairy industry. Lowville’s Kraft Heinz plant has long been the cream of the crop and now the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law and Inflation Reduction Act will help power their transition to clean energy, making sure the North Country facility will have the modern upgrades it needs to remain the ‘big cheese,’ all while creating good paying jobs and fighting climate change,” Schumer said in Monday’s announcement.

Implementing the technologies at each facility is expected to reduce annual emissions by more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, translating to a 99 percent reduction from 2022 levels for Kraft Heinz, “all while helping create hundreds of good paying construction jobs.”

The Lowville Kraft Heinz plant will use the funding to replace aging gas and other high carbon–emitting technologies with “more energy efficient and environmentally friendly alternatives,” such as heat pumps, electric heaters, and electric boilers.

In addition to the Lowville plant, Kraft Heinz will also boost its decarbonization efforts in Champaign, Illinois; Columbia, Missouri; Fremont, Ohio; Holland, Michigan; Kendallville, Indiana; New Ulm, Minnesota; Muscatine, Iowa; Mason City, Iowa; and Winchester, Virginia, Schumer’s office said.