Around the Industry

Dec. 23, 2011
Eaton to acquire EA Pederson Eaton Corp., Cleveland, agreed to acquire E.A. Pedersen Co., Omaha, Neb., a manufacturer of medium-voltage switchgear primarily

Eaton to acquire EA Pederson

Eaton Corp., Cleveland, agreed to acquire E.A. Pedersen Co., Omaha, Neb., a manufacturer of medium-voltage switchgear primarily for electrical utilities. Eaton Power Distribution President Rich Stinson said the deal “will strengthen Eaton's medium-voltage assembly business by adding important utility-oriented power products and custom engineering capabilities for our U.S. markets.” Pederson's products include metal-clad switchgear, power control buildings and relay control panels. E.A. Pedersen does business as Pedersen Power Products and estimated 2011 sales at $37 million.

DOE awards for EVSE research

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced awards totaling nearly $7 million in research and development funding to help to reduce the costs of electric vehicle charging systems by 50 percent over the next three years. Three major electrical manufacturers won a share of the funding:

Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, N.J., received $1,617,619 to redesign its residential EVSE systems to enable flexible, intelligent control of charging.

General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, N.Y., received $1,362,318 to improve the design and infrastructure for commercial chargers for EV fleets operated by companies, including FedEx.

Eaton Corp., Moon Township, Pa., received $1,837,004 to develop and demonstrate commercial electric vehicle chargers that can work with and support the smart grid, including providing two-way communications with the electric utility and coordinating with smart meter networks.

GE Lighting settles patent suit

GE Lighting Solutions, LLC, Cleveland, said it has settled a patent infringement lawsuit filed in May 2010 against Dongbu Lightec of Korea, formerly Fawoo Technology, alleging Dongbu Lightec of infringing GE's U.S. patents 6,799,864 and 6,787,999 that cover, among other things, light-emitting diode (LED) lamp heat-sink designs and systems and methods for efficiently replacing existing lamps with such designs. Specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but as part of the agreement, Dongbu Lightec has agreed to a license from GE Lighting Solutions under the aforementioned patents.