NECA Show Coverage

Overcoming the Mega-Challenges that Come with Mega-Projects

Oct. 1, 2024

Day 2 educational session explores opportunities for electrical contractors in the EV arena.

Folks like to talk about the electrical business was opportunities that the dozens of megaprojects offer electrical contractors. And while the hundreds of millions of dollars they can offer in electrical work is mind-boggling, these projects also come with some huge challenges in finding enough electrical workers.

At the NECA 2024 seminar, “How Battery Plants and EV Charging Stations are Changing the Landscape for Electrical Contractors," executives from three NECA firms and one law firm that contracts with these projects gave an insiders’ look at the potentially lucrative megaprojects.

There are an amazing number of these projects underway, on the drawing boards and completed. Roy Cohen, founder of the Cohen Seglias law firm, based in Philadelphia, Pa., the session’s moderator, said there were 73 semiconductor plants underway or in the design phase; $59 billion in data center construction planned or underway in addition to the 2,850 now operational; and 30 battery plants underway or planned.

EV charging centers are also expected to see explosive growth, and according to data Cohen shared, 28 million EV charging ports will be needed by 2030. Ed O’Halloran, senior VP of Miller Electric’s EV Solutions and Infrastructure, Jacksonville, Fla., said his company is working in 43 states right now installing EV charging stations. He is working with NECA contractors around the nation on these installations and is looking for companies interested in these projects who have workers certified by the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP). Miller Electric has designed an aluminum skid to transport switchgear for these charging stations.

Joe Kellams from United Electric Co., Louisville, Ky., has seen the challenges of a megaproject first-hand on a massive scale. He was asked to provide electrical construction service on Ford’s Blue Oval plants in Kentucky and has had to hire and maintain a workforce on the job ove up to 940 electricians.

Jonathan Bruce, with the New Castle, Pa.-based contracting firm said his management team had to plan out their growth so they could take on larger projects that would meet their own safety standards.

About the Author

Jim Lucy | Editor-in-Chief, Electrical Wholesaling & Electrical Marketing

Over the past 40-plus years, hundreds of Jim’s articles have been published in Electrical Wholesaling, Electrical Marketing newsletter and Electrical Construction & Maintenance magazine on topics such as electric vehicles, solar and wind development, energy-efficient lighting and local market economics. In addition to his published work, Jim regularly gives presentations on these topics to C-suite executives, industry groups and investment analysts.

He launched a new subscription-based data product for Electrical Marketing that offers electrical sales potential estimates and related market data for more than 300 metropolitan areas. In 1999, he published his first book, “The Electrical Marketer’s Survival Guide” for electrical industry executives looking for an overview of key market trends.

While managing Electrical Wholesaling’s editorial operations, Jim and the publication’s staff won several Jesse H. Neal awards for editorial excellence, the highest honor in the business press, and numerous national and regional awards from the American Society of Business Press Editors. He has a master’s degree in communications and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, N.J. (now Rowan University) and studied electrical design at New York University and graphic design at the School for Visual Arts.