Cooper Industries buys Canadian lighting controls company
Cooper Industries, Houston, has acquired Fifth Light Technology Ltd., a privately owned lighting controls company based in Oakville, Ontario, that specializes in the design, sale and implementation of digitally addressable lighting interface (DALI) solutions and a suite of centralized building management software applications. According to a press release announcing the acquisition, over the past several years, Fifth Light has installed over 100,000 control devices throughout North America. Fifth Light will become part of the Cooper Controls business unit within Cooper Lighting.
AD announces 2011 sales results
Affiliated Distributors (AD), Wayne, Pa., released its Electrical Divisions' year-end results with U.S. sales having grown 19% to $11.2 billion and Canadian sales having grown 10% to $852 million. AD affiliates also set new records for both net distributions and return on remittances from the buying/marketing group.
David Oldfather, president, Electrical Divisions, said “Our commitment to exclusively supporting independent electrical distributors of all sizes is definitely yielding some impressive results. In addition to experiencing above-market growth during this past year, our affiliates added over 950 new distributor employees, made 14 acquisitions, and approved the addition of 38 new Clean Energy Suppliers to the AD Preferred Supplier list.” Oldfather adds, “Our AD Clean Energy program, along with AD's willingness to pursue new growth opportunities for both our distributors and suppliers, should help stimulate additional growth in 2012 and beyond.”
According to Bill Weisberg, CEO, “In spite of tremendous market uncertainty and stiff competition, our independent distributors and suppliers battled back from the depths of the Great Recession to sales levels that now exceed their peak in 2008.”
Platt Electric Supply to open six new branch locations
Platt Electric Supply, Beaverton, Ore., has six new locations under construction in Tracy, Calif.; on the Intel campus in Hillsboro, Ore.; and in Arlington, Enumclaw, Kent and Port Angeles, Wash. When these branches open the company will have 110 locations in seven western states. In addition to these new locations, Platt Electric Supply will be adding six additional branches in the next few months.
NEMA lauds lithium shipment bill and DOE transformer ruling
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Rosslyn, Va., welcomed the passage by the U.S. Senate of a bill directing the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to ensure that most U.S. regulations governing air shipment of lithium batteries are harmonized with standards written by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The legislation also covers products that contain or are packed with lithium-ion or lithium-metal batteries.
On February 6, the Senate approved the conference report for HR 658, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act, in a bipartisan 75-20 vote. The House approved the bill on February 3 by a 248-169 vote. Specifically, the legislation requires that DOT agencies may not put greater restrictions on transportation of lithium metal or lithium ion cells or batteries than the requirements of the ICAO Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air.
NEMA also voiced its support for the Department of Energy's (DOE) proposed rule to increase the energy conservation standards for distribution transformers. Throughout the fall of 2011, DOE hosted a negotiated rulemaking, where stakeholders gathered to discuss the justification for higher energy efficiency standards for all three classes of regulated distribution transformers: low voltage dry-type, medium voltage dry-type, and medium voltage liquid-immersed. Under current standards, distribution transformers are already the most energy-efficient product that DOE regulates at 97%-99% efficiency, but NEMA members believed there was an opportunity to increase energy conservation without unduly burdening the sectors that supply materials for transformers, the manufacturers or the users of transformers. NEMA said its member companies are united behind a recommendation made to DOE that would spur significant, long-term energy savings in distribution transformers.