EleBlog

ECONO Linx

jsalimando — 2010-09-09 06:36:57

Countrywide Goes Kafka -- first-person narrative from the Angry Bear Blog

From Calculated Risk, which is quickly becoming a favorite EleBlog resource:

Fannie Mae reported that their REO inventory more than doubled since Q2 2009, from 62,615 to 129,310 in Q2 2010. REO: Real Estate Owned.

What's causing BIG teen-age unemployment -- the minimum wage, or competition from the 55+ age cohort?
Invictus, who writes frequently for The Big Picture, weighs in here:

I reiterated that position . . . last month when illegal immigrants became the target of choice for stealing teen employment:

What about demographics � an aging boomer population � and a crappy economy that has� the 55+ cohort postponing retirement and consequently crowding out the younger generation (parents keeping their own kids/grandkids out of the job market, as I put it a while back).� The data is there for all who choose to explore it.

Sports Lighting Job

jsalimando — 2010-09-09 06:32:47

From the Nashville, TN newspaper, 6/25, buried on the bottom of an article:

"Aldermen also agreed to add new, energy-efficient sports lighting equipment at Jim Warren Park for its football fields, tennis courts, and the baseball field. The work would be paid for, in part, with a U.S. DoE grant of up to $518,700. The contractor is Dickson, TN-based Reynolds Electrical Contracors. The total amount of the work would be $751,730 if no rock is encountered by crews during the installation and $922,170 if they must remove rock during the work."

NZE Office Bldg - Electrical

jsalimando — 2010-09-09 06:30:08

The first paragraph of a July press release:

Weifield Group, an electrical contractor located in Denver, Colorado, has completed a new design-build 222,000-square-foot, $64 million Research Support Facility (RSF) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The RSF is located on the campus of the DOE�s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and includes a next-generation 20,000-square-foot data center. The project is expected to be one of the most energy efficient buildings in the world. Weifield Group implemented the electrical and special systems for the facility, which is designed to be a model for sustainable building practices. The RSF will achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED�) Platinum designation � the highest benchmark awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

And the "about" paragraphs at the end:

Weifield Group Contracting is a full-service, privately held electrical contracting firm that holds a vast portfolio of experience in the mid-western and western electrical business region. At Weifield Group, we pride ourselves on our attention to detail and our ability to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Whatever your need �electrical remodeling, new construction, maintenance for wholesale, retail, telecom, non-profit businesses, and industrial � Weifield Group can help.

Weifield Group, which is self-certified with the Small Business Administration (SBA), is active in the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC), Association of Prevailing Wage Contractors, The American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE), Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), and the Constructors & Designers Alliance (CDA).

We are confident our substantial experience, communication, innovative ideas, and cost-effective approach will deliver significant value to your critical project.

Helix

jsalimando — 2010-09-09 06:27:13

From a correction in the July 1 Las Vegas newspaper, on the list of mechanical & electrical contractors (ran in the 6/28 issue of the Business Press):

Helix Electric . . . . has 311 employees and was established in 2011. It has local annual sales of $74.5M and its top local executive is Victor Fuchs, president.

The Davis Family of Urbana, IL

jsalimando — 2010-09-09 06:17:08

From a feature about Davis Electric in The News-Gazette of Champaign-Urbana, IL

Scot Davis said that as a boy, he often went to job sites and pulled wire for his dad.

"Ultimately, I wanted to be a contractor like my dad," he said. Like Tom, he went through the union apprenticeship program and became an electrician. In 1998, he became president of the company.

Scot Davis said he likes working with clients on projects and particularly being asked back for work. He also likes "the competitive nature" of the business.

Among the company's recent projects: the I Hotel and Houlihan's restaurant, the Gregory Place buildings on campus, the Forum at Carle, the Amdocs buildings on Fox Drive, One Main Plaza in downtown Champaign and the Patterson Companies building west of Champaign.

Carmen Davis Kirby, vice president of Davis Electric, began doing office work for the company at age 15 and continued to work there through high school and college.

Both Scot and Carmen have other business ventures. Scot Davis is a co-owner of Davis-Houk Inc., which does plumbing and mechanical work and employs about 60. Carmen Davis Kirby is an owner of the Bella Mia and Bella Bambini, south Champaign boutiques for women and children, which she said allow her to express her "creative side." As for Tom Davis, he devotes his extra time to restoring Cushman motor scooters. He figures he has restored close to 100 of them.

Tom Davis, the company's founder, is 74.

SmartGridCity Melts Down

jsalimando — 2010-09-08 06:22:58

Jesse Berst of SmartGridNews.com penned a brief post-mortem of the Boulder, Colo. SmartGridCity project (run by utility Xcel). It was much-publicized.

And it did not work.

Berst's got a very good brain, from what I've seen, and his analysis is worth reading.

But ALSO WORTH READING are the 33 readers comments that appear below his piece.

Even if you don't know much about The Smart Grid, this is worth your time.

Silicon-controlled dimmers - ban?

jsalimando — 2010-09-08 06:17:50

A blog that I stumbled across included this:

Dimming mode of silicon-controlled dimmers is cut off part of the Sinusoidal AC current waveform which is provided to bulbs. Thus, silicon-controlled dimming light bulbs have a low power factor which is always lower than 0.5. But please be noted that the power factor is an important indicator about power efficiency and power quality. Perfect power factor is 1.0. Only in phase sine current with harmonic distortion of zero can achieve the power factor of 1.0. In recent years, on the harmonic distortion of current waveforms of many electrical and electronic equipments, EN / IEC 61000-3-2 standards have very strict specifications. In the past, most computer power supplies have a power factor of 0.5 to 0.7. Now EN 61000-3-2 and other government regulations, such as Energy Star of the United States Department of Energy, required that the electrical equipments such as televisions, computers and so on shall reach at least a power factor of 0.9.

Read the item in its entirety here.