On-Site Power in Paradise: EGSA Goes to Maui
The Electrical Generating Systems Association (EGSA) recently held its 2007 Fall Technical & Marketing Conference at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui, HI, September 16-18, 2007. Conference speakers and their topics were designed to be of interest to virtually every member of the On-Site Power Industry. Educational presentations included:
In his opening keynote address, “Yield to New Ideas,” James B. Lloyd, President and Owner of 9 Screens International challenged attendees to find the positives with change. Whether it is a corporate merger, corporate restructuring, or downsizing; finding the positives in change will create a business environment of growth and loyalty, said Lloyd. He went on to relate several personal anecdotes to illustrate his points, including an encounter with an impressive display of customer service.
Speaker John Deane of KTR Associates Engineering Solutions provided attendees with the latest information on compliance requirements to meet NFPA 70E in his presentation, “NFPA 70E Electrical Safety Requirements in the Workplace.” Deane’s detailed presentation gave attendees a better understanding of NFPA 70E and NFPA’s efforts to raise the awareness of Electrical Hazards and outlined what manufacturers and distributor/dealers must do to become “70E” compliant.
In his luncheon keynote address, Wally Amos, founder of Famous Amos Cookies, charmed his audience with stories of his childhood, up through his days in the entertainment business, to the creation and loss of “Famous Amos” cookies, and to his current way of life.
In “Asia’s Impact on North American Manufacturers,” Stephen LeGrand urged his audience to look beneath the surface when it comes to competing with overseas manufacturers. Trans-ocean shipping, LeGrand pointed out, gives Asian manufacturers a distinct disadvantage when it comes to bringing product to the U.S. market in a timely fashion. Asia’s advantages should, LeGrand argued, be limited to the cost of labor because U.S. manufacturers “can get the materials just as cheap.”
“We have the relationships in our markets,” added LeGrand. “We can subcontract high labor cost subassemblies as well. The U.S. is a saturated market. Plus, it’s a big ocean, freight is expensive and inventory is not cheap.”
In “The State of the On-Site Power Market,” Ray Kacvinsky, Vice President - Power Generation, Marathon Electric Mfg. Corp., reviewed EGSA generator statistics from 2000 through the first part of 2006 and compared EGSA market data against other industry information using an economic early warning technique with the data to develop a near-future On-Site Power market outlook. (Editor’s Note: Mr. Kacvinsky’s article of the same name will appear in the November/December issue of Powerline.)
In his presentation “Current Health of the Large Engine Industry–2007 Statistics.” Mark McNeely, Publisher and Editor, Diesel and Gas Turbine Publications, gave attendees some insight into the Diesel & Gas Turbine Worldwide annual Power Generation Order Survey. The 30-year-old survey encompasses all piston and gas turbine engine orders for power generation applications 500 kilowatts and above. This presentation will analyze this year’s survey figures, including which engine ranges saw increased orders, or decreased in volume. It will also break out various engine order trends by type of fuel, type of service and geographic location.
In “Data Centers....uh oh...Here Come the High Nines Again!” Don Blackman, V.P. Marketing & Domestic Sales, ASCO / Power Switching & Controls, entertained his audience with an offbeat presentation that reviewed the growing demand for Data Storage and what’s driving it. Data Center Facility expansion and new construction, said Blackman, are expected to grow significantly in the next four to six years. Data Centers can range in size from very small Tier-I types all the way up to huge buildings in a Tier-IV configuration. The greater the uptime expectation, the more backup power and control is required.
Attendees were eager to hear the latest from Todd Lathrop, Senior Design Engineer, Eaton Corp. in his presentation “Residential Standby Power: The Future of On-Site Power in the Home.” The demand for electricity in the residential sector, said Lathrop, continues to increase as more power-hungry devices are being added to the home environment. As the power grid continues to become more decayed and overloaded and the frequency of storm-related power outages continue to increase, the reliability of electrical power to the home becomes less. For these reasons, Lathrop argued, pad-mounted standby generators are quickly becoming the air-conditioners of yesteryear. (Editor’s Note: Mr. Lathrop’s article of the same name will appear in the November/December issue of Powerline.)
Copies of presentation handouts are available on the EGSA web site at www.EGSA.org.
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