Food Lion wins energy award.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ At Food Lion, recently-improved refrigeration systems consume thousands fewer kilowatt hours of energy every year in each store.

In the storage areas and employee restrooms, sensors keep lights on only when the rooms are occupied.

On the fronts of many stores, the signs are powered by light-emitting diodes instead of neon. The new technology lasts much longer and uses less energy.

Those are just a few of the improvements to lighting, heating and cooling systems that helped the Salisbury, N.C.-based grocer reduce its companywide energy consumption by more than 106 billion BTU's (or 60 million kilowatt hours) in 2001 over the …