Headliners
Minnesota state government shutdown has electrical
impact: State law requires electrical installations to be inspected;
the state supplies inspectors for “about two-thirds of the cities in the
five-county [Minneapolis/St. Paul] area,” according to Finance &
Commerce. Some cities, such as Andover and Edina, passed ordinances taking
over inspections. Under Minnesota law, localities have that power, “as long as
the inspections are performed by a state-licensed master or journeyman
electrician,” according to the League of Minnesota Cities.
Rare earth confusion: According to an Agence
France-Press news release posted
to IndustryWeek.com on July 14, China increased the quota for rare earth
metal exports over the final six months of 2011 by more than 97%. A few
paragraphs down in the AFP release, an EU spokesperson says the new quota is
actually more restrictive.
Clark Silcox at NEMA explained in the July 25
edition of the association’s newsletter, “…on May 16, 2011, China announced that ferroalloys containing 10% or more rare earth minerals by weight would be
added to the quota computation for the first time. This means that fewer rare earth
oxides are available for export from China than before.”
“This is not good news for manufacturers of clean technology
products outside of China who purchase rare earth oxides—for
products such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, energy efficient lighting— as well as a number of other products that contain components incorporating
rare earth minerals.”
Silcox gives a detailed explanation on the NEMACurrents
blog.
Contractor Notes
Black Box Corp. was named to CRN’s 2011 VAR 500 list of the top technology integrators in North America. In this 17th annual ranking Black Box moved up from No. 69 last time to No. 27 this year.
Cupertino Electric: This California-based
contractor said that a recent electrical infrastructure project for the Thunder
Valley Casino will be rated “four diamonds” by AAA.
EMCOR Group: This company’s Dynalectric
subsidiary in Oregon was recognized with a Safety Excellence award by NECA.
Foster Remodeling Solutions, based in Lorton,
Va., said it has added an electrical division. This means remodeler is now a
licensed and insured electrical contractor as well. “With our own electrical
division,” said David Foster, owner, “we no longer need to make special
arrangements and adjustments in our schedules.”
Quanta Services said in June that it would
repurchase another $50 million of its common stock on the open market or in
private transactions. John W. Colson, executive chairman of the board, said the
move is “an efficient use of capital and a strategic use of our strong balance
sheet to enhance shareholder returns.”
Rosendin Electric, the second-ranked EC in
terms of annual sales, said it has gone even greener—replacing propane-powered
forklifts in its supply yards in San Jose and San Francisco with all-electric
units.
Texas agreements: In a June 30, news release
from Electric Transmission Texas, a JV of American Electric Power and
MidAmerican Energy Holdings, said that ETT executed “master agreements” with
MYR Group, Quanta Services and TIC Holdings. This ensures that “ETT has
significant construction resources committed to help complete its CREZ program
in west Texas.”
By 2013, ETT will construct nearly $1.4 billion in Competitive
Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) projects. CREZ projects are focused on constructing
enough transmission and distribution power lines to get the wind power in west
Texas (18,456MW of it) to metropolitan areas of the state.
Wisconsin winners: The Wisconsin Safety
Council (a unit of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce) recently named 2010
Corporate Safety Award Winners. Among them were two ECs—Northern Electric,
Green Bay and Suburban Electrical Engineers/Contractors, Appleton.
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