Efficiency Program Gains New Members
The 5 Star Energy Services Program, organized by Advance Transformer Company, Rosemont, Ill., has welcomed several new participants into the fold. Dave Attardi of Atlantic Lighting Supply, Edison, N.J.; LighTec, Merrimack, N.H.; and RISE Engineering, Cranston, R.I., have all joined the program, which is designed to show building owners how to implement energy-efficient building system upgrades.
Demand Goes Up for Homemade Power
A telephone survey conducted by RKS Research & Consulting found 31% of consumers surveyed expressed interest in generating their own electricity at home. Within this group, 20% would prefer to use on-site generation instead of their present utility for electrical needs, and 20% expressed interest in deploying on-site generation to supplement the electricity provided by their present supplier.
Parts Directory Site Goes Online
SCIENTECH, Clearwater, Fla., launched rapidpartsmart.com, an online parts search engine, on Feb. 1. The database is a fourth-generation, enhanced version of the company's Readily Accessible Parts Information Directory. Visitors to the site can search for engineered parts within their own plants or in affiliated plants.
NEMA Launches Site for Lamp Recycling
The National Electric Manufacturers Association recently unveiled www.lamprecycle.org, a new Web site that offers critical information on recycling for U.S. companies that use fluorescent or high-intensity discharge lamps. The site includes information about federal and state regulatory spent lamp management requirements and state regulatory contracts. It also lists companies that handle and recycle spent lamps and describes the environmental benefits of mercury-containing lamps and what the lamp industry has done to reduce its use of these lamps altogether.
These requirements can differ depending on who generates the spent lamps and in which state the user resides. Even where existing regulations exempt users from spent lamp management regulations, NEMA encourages businesses to recycle their spent lamps.
FuelCell Energy Signs with Wastewater Plant
FuelCell Energy signed an agreement to install a Direct FuelCell power plant that uses municipal wastewater digester gas as fuel in King County, Wash. The company was selected for the project through a competitive process last July to install and operate a 1MW DFC power plant at the county's South Wastewater Treatment Facility in Renton, Wash.
The two-year demonstration project is cost-shared equally by FuelCell Energy and King County through a cooperative grant to the county from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The contract is worth $18.8 million, and operations are expected to commence during the third quarter of 2002.
Electric City Teams With Harza Energy
Electric City Corp., Elk Grove Village, Ill., recently formed a strategic alliance with Harza Energy, Chicago, with the primary objective of co-marketing its EnergySaver and GlobalCommander products with Harza Energy's line of distributed generation systems. In addition, the parties will cooperate on joint product development targeting integration between the product lines.
Electric City also launched a $100 million financing plan funded by CIT Structured Finance for the collaborative projects of Electric City and Harza Energy. The program was designed to target California's escalating power crisis and customer needs in other key energy markets.
Internet Spending to Double by 2006
New strategic research from San Jose, Calif.-based market consulting firm Frost & Sullivan entitled “Impact of the Internet on the Electrical Motor Industry,” reveals $40 billion was spent on Internet technologies in 1999. That figure is projected to reach over $94 billion by 2006.
Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Lansing Gordon studied the issues facing manufacturers' and distributors' e-distribution channels in the electrical motor and motion-control industries. The report presents strategies for developing and implementing e-distribution channels.
The study found many participants in these markets are committing to Web-based distribution models — leading them to do away with traditional warehouse systems and purchasing divisions.
GE Fanuc Launches New Web Site
GE Fanuc Automation, Charlottesville, Va., has launched a new Web site that features database-driven content designed to provide users with information about the company's services, solutions, and technologies. The site, located at www.gefanuc.com, allows visitors to access services such as technical support and system configuration; a new e-catalog with detailed specifications on the company's products; and EliteNet, a network designed for GE distributors.
Industry Web Sites Form Strategic Alliance
ELECTRISMARTS.com and ELECTRICjob.com recently announced they are creating a strategic alliance to serve their mutual customers, which include electrical contractors, distributors, and engineering firms.
The former is an industry information site, while the latter is an industry job and résumé bulletin board.
Both companies were developed with input from industry professionals in manufacturing, distribution, contracting, and advertising and continue to solicit ongoing input from industry advisors to monitor the direction and content. The two Web entities will be launching a large co-branded marketing campaign and will be co-presenting at several upcoming industry events.
