Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: CCE) will receive an Environmental Stewardship Award on Jan. 9 from Orion Energy Systems Inc. to acknowledge the beverage company's relentless commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability.

The event will take place at Coca-Cola Enterprises' Downey, Calif., facility. Officials from Southern California Edison, Coca-Cola Enterprises and Orion will speak at the event, and public officials and utility professionals are expected to attend.

Orion Energy Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OESX), of Manitowoc, Wis., will present the award, which is designed to recognize companies that reduce energy consumption " and associated greenhouse gases " through the use of Orion's energy management systems.

In California alone, Coca-Cola Enterprises has decreased energy consumption by 113 million kilowatt-hours by using Orion's high-intensity fluorescent lighting technology. As a result of the energy reduction, Coca-Cola Enterprises will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 74,301 tons over the life of Orion's replacement lighting.

The energy savings frees enough electricity to power 537 homes a year, is the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 1,038-acre forest, or equates to saving more than 9.3 million gallons of gasoline over the life of the fixtures, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Coca-Cola Enterprises has been unrelenting in its environmental efforts. The company has installed solar power generating panels, uses energy efficient vending equipment, utilizes hybrid vehicles and recycles.

Orion's energy-efficient lighting platform is near completion in 24 Coca-Cola facilities in California and more than 300 Coca-Cola facilities nationwide.

The awards ceremony will be illuminated by Orion's integrated lighting system, which won the 2008 prestigious Platts Global Energy award for Sustainable Technology Innovation of the Year as "the single most innovative technology advance in the area of green technology," according to Platts.

The integrated system, which combines light fixtures, controls and direct renewable solar light pipes, can reduce a customer's lighting costs up to 80 percent in comparison to traditional, high-intensity discharge lights.

The media is invited to attend the event and luncheon, which will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, January 9 at Coca-Cola Enterprises, 11536 Patton Road, Gate 6, in Downey, California. To register, please log on to http://www.oriones.com/invite/registration.php or call 920.482.1988.