EMCOR buys Scalise
EMCOR Group, Inc., Norwalk, Conn., has acquired Scalise Industries, Lawrence, Pa., a privately held engineering and facilities maintenance company with 2009 estimated revenues of approximately $70 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Scalise specializes in mechanical and electrical services, system 0commissioning and fire protection services for a broad range of markets including healthcare, commercial, institutional/universities, transportation and power in the greater Pittsburgh area. Through its SI Technologies division, the company provides integrated building automation solutions, including HVAC, lighting and access systems.
Generac launches IPO
Generac Holdings Inc., Waukesha, Wis., parent company of generator manufacturer Generac Power Systems, Inc., has priced its initial public offering of 18,750,000 shares of common stock at $13 per share. The shares began trading on The New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 11 under the ticker symbol “GNRC.” In addition, Generac Holdings Inc. has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,812,500 shares at the initial public offering price. News reports said the company had hoped to raise $335 million through the IPO, but raised an estimated $244.4 million after it had to lower its price to $15 from the $17 per share it had initally wanted.
Deal with HD Supply Utilities has pole maker thinking expansion
Pelco Structural LLC, a Claremore, Okla.-based manufacturer of utility poles, told the Tulsa World it may add 50 employees during the next 18 months as it ramps up its electrical transmission business. Pelco President Phil Albert said the company signed a distribution deal with HD Supply Utilities, the largest supplier and distributor for electric utilities in the United States. “Electrical transmission poles really are the fastest-growing segment of our business,” Albert said.
DOE waives Buy-American requirements for CFLs
The government relations folks at NEMA, Rosslyn, Va., said the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) issued waivers for several lighting products from the Buy American requirements that apply to manufactured goods to be used in projects funded by EERE under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The waiver applies to screw-base and pin-base compact fluorescent lamps, with the exception of pin-based CFLs longer than 10 inches, which are made in the U.S. NEMA had sought the waiver because the CFLs are not made in the U.S. in sufficient quantities to meet demand, NEMA said.
Nearly $1.4 billion in DOE loan guarantees for BrightSource
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced conditional commitments for more than $1.37 billion in loan guarantees under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to BrightSource Energy Inc. to support the construction and start-up of three utility-scale concentrated solar power plants. The new plants will generate approximately 400MW of electricity. This would nearly double the existing generation capacity of this type of renewable energy in the U.S. The three-plant Ivanpah Solar Complex will be located on federally-owned land in the Mojave Desert in southeastern California near the Nevada border, and will be the world's largest operational concentrated solar power complex. Once operational, the project will supply clean electric power to approximately 140,000 California homes.
Nexxus campaign targets spec-grade markets with LEDs
Nexxus Lighting, Inc., Charlotte, N.C., is launching a national advertising campaign around its new Array Lighting LED replacement light bulb product line. The campaign includes print, on-line and social media and is focused on the spec-grade commercial lighting market, especially hotel and hospitality, restaurant and retail store lighting markets. Advertisements showcasing Array LED lamps as superior to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are also being launched to the lighting industry.
Part of Nexxus Lighting's thrust is a belief that too many “low-performing” LEDs are being introduced into the market. “Specification grade lighting customers demand higher performance, better color, longer life and the best in reliability and quality,” said Mike Bauer, president and CEO.