In November of 2020 ESL made moves for the future and leased a building 1,000 feet away from its headquarters at 2900 Palisades Dr. This new facility doubles ESL’s fabrication capacity and provides a clear path for continued growth and prosperity for ESL Employee Owners. The official Ribbon Cutting ceremony for ESL’s Fabrication Building Expansion took place this month with Mayor, Jacque Casillas and Council Member Jim Steiner in attendance along with the ESL Leadership team. ESL President Marcelo Gonzalez and Chief Sales Strategists Michael Hellmers spoke to the group about ESL’s bright future. They emphasized how this expansion gives ESL the ability to improve processes and lead times making it possible for our organization to fulfill commitments to our customers and accomplish our Mission of making it easy to do business with ESL.
Natural events have become a common occurrence in many parts of the US with a growing number of devastating natural disasters occurring in recent years. Preparing your business for emergency back-up power in the midst of a natural disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane, ice storm or flood is crucial for business continuity.
Earthquakes
In the US alone, the National Earthquake Information Center locates about 12,000-14,000 earthquakes per year. Globally there are approximately 55 earthquakes per day averaging out to 20,000 a year!
During an earthquake, a building’s emergency equipment may inevitably experience vigorous shaking and movement depending on the magnitude. Acquiring back-up equipment that is OSHPD “OSP” Special Seismic Certified provides enormous value in knowing your equipment has been shaker-table tested and certified to endure major earthquakes without fail. However, earthquakes aren’t just about shaky buildings, earthquakes also have the power to cause damage to electrical grids and powerlines. When either of the two are down, electricity and power can go out resulting in a loss of power to your business. This ultimately results in loss revenues, product and production to name a few. Where critical facilities are concerned, this could mean life or death.
Wind and Storms
High winds from hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe storms affect emergency power every year and are one of the most common causes of power outages. In 2020, NOAA reported a record-breaking 30 named storms (top winds of 39 mph or greater), of which 13 became hurricanes (top winds of 74 mph or greater), including six major hurricanes (top winds of 111 mph or greater). 2020 became the year with the most storms ever recorded in the continental United States. A report from Climate Central states that 44 percent of power outages are caused by storm events which negatively impact businesses and homes.
Strong winds tend to blow large debris resulting in broken power lines and utility poles. They can also cause lines to swing together which can result in short circuiting utility power. Strong winds are also traced to the cause of wildfires. Utility companies have begun to implement “Public Safety Power Shutoffs” in order to tackle the event of severe winds and prevent wildfires from occurring. With consistent power outages during severe winds, businesses are forced to find alternatives to utility power in order to keep the lights on during these long shutoffs.
Ice Storms
Ice storms fall into the “winter weather” category and occur in the U.S. primarily during the months of December and January. Also known as freezing rain, these storms occur when rain freezes and accumulates on surfaces such as trees, power lines, and the ground.
Severe damage to trees and power lines begins when ice accumulates between a quarter- and half-inch. When these ice droplets accumulate onto powerlines it can add up to 500 pounds of extra weight. With the amount of weight added by ice layers, trees and utility lines tend to fall and result in damage to roads, homes, and businesses. It can take quite a while for trees to be removed from roads and powerlines to be repaired, this can result in a loss of electricity and heat for many days. In January 2020, an Atlanta ice storm left half a million people without power, some for more than a week while utility companies tried to repair lines. Estimated total losses reported for this storm reached upwards of $48 million. In mid-December of 2020, an ice storm left more than 500,000 without power in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. At the time, it was called one of the most destructive ice storms seen to the electrical utility infrastructure in those areas. In February 2021 more than 700,000 people were without power due to ice storms in eight states including Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Knowing that ice storms can last up to a few days, preparing ahead of time is the best decision. Businesses with back-up power solutions are able to sustain these winter events and keep the lights and heat on when it is needed the most.
Floods
According to the department of agriculture, ninety percent of all natural disasters in the United States involve flooding. Additionally, high-risk flood areas are not the only ones at risk, about 25% of flood insurance claims come from moderate-to low-risk areas.
Floods are caused by spring thaw resulting in the overflow of rivers, waterways, dams, etc. They are also caused by coastal flooding due to hurricanes, tropical storms, and heavy rains. Flood surges that occurred in Hurricanes such as Sandy and Katrina severely affected emergency power. Flood damage poses one of the greatest risks to on-site power.
Considering the location of your emergency back-up equipment is paramount when planning for possible flood-damage. The lowest level of a building is the most likely to flood knocking out emergency power distribution equipment, such as transfer switches, rendering switches inoperable. Organizations such as Medical facilities and Universities have begun mounting back-up equipment on the second floor keeping all equipment dry and operational during a flood.
Natural disasters are in abundance. All the U.S. incurs some sort of natural disaster that knocks out power daily. Designing on-site emergency power back-up systems is crucial to business survival and recovery.
After being the first manufacturer of eTRU docking stations to be approved by Southern California Edison for its Charge Ready program, SCE has approved 5 additional ESL eTRUconnect models for inclusion in its landmark campaign. The new models address an industry need to power 240V units, standard ISO Refrigerated Containers, and to daisy-chain up to 4 units from the same electrical circuit.
In addition to providing EV charging infrastructure, SCE’s Charge Ready Transport Program also provides funding initiatives for installation of eTRU infrastructure to its commercial customers. Through this program, SCE’s goal is to advance the vision for a clean energy future while providing medium- and heavy-duty fleet owners the opportunity to save money. The program is offering opportunities such as, no-cost installation of electric infrastructure or giving businesses the option to install, own, operate and maintain the infrastructure on site for a rebate up to 80% of cost. SCE is also offering special incentives such as commercial rate options that make EV charging and TRU shore power more affordable during certain times of the day. Connecting electric or hybrid refrigerated units to ESL’s eTRUconnect truck-trailer shore power eliminates the need of running on board diesel generators/engines to keep the cargo within the optimal temperature range. This results in significant savings attributed to much lower energy and maintenance cost.
“Being the first eTRU standby connection solution on SCE’s Charge Ready Transport Approved Product List (APL) is a great honor for ESL. With the additional products available to SCE’s customers we are now confident we will be able to address the various requirements in this space,” commented Carlos Valero, Director of Commercial Operations. “Even though there is no mandated standard for eTRU connections, the vast majority of the industry has adopted the standard IEC pin and sleeve connectors for hybrid refrigerated trailers. We believe that having a pin and sleeve solution that is non-proprietary provides customers the added benefit of utilizing the inlet that comes already installed with most OEM equipment – making the transition to electrify fleets more economical. The additional offerings will support multiple stakeholders in their efforts to electrifying on site infrastructure. Improving the environmental impact of the trucking industry is paramount to ESL and we are dedicated to listening to our customers who are the source of all our innovation efforts.”
A TRU Hybrid Future
Transport Refrigeration Units, commonly referred to as TRUs, are refrigeration systems that are typically powered by internal combustion engines. TRUs control the environment of temperature-sensitive products that are transported in refrigerated trucks, trailers, railcars and shipping containers. TRUs are used to transport and store many products such as food, pharmaceuticals, plants, medicines, and chemicals.
Some companies use TRUs for extended cold storage. Distribution centers and grocery stores may run out of cold storage space in their buildings and then opt to store overflow goods in TRU-equipped trucks and trailers outside their buildings. Distribution centers, truck stops and other cold storage facilities also attract large volumes of TRUs that contribute to higher localized health risks. New regulations are developing concepts to reduce emissions from facilities with TRU activity by transitioning to zero-emission operation where practical.
In addition to SCE’s infrastructure programs, CARBs Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) features a streamlined voucher process for buyers to receive funding to offset the adoption costs of clean, commercial ready zero-emission equipment including transport refrigeration units, cargo-handling equipment, and more. CARB is also offering eligibility opportunities to offset electricity costs through the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Program which is designed to encourage the use of cleaner low-carbon fuels in California, encourage the production of those fuels, and therefore, reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Charge Ready Transport, LCFS and CORE are some of the many incentives available in California that provide opportunities to reduce your organization’s carbon footprint and improve the air quality of your community all while cutting operation and maintenance costs to your fleet.
Get ahead of the competition; learn more about SCE’s Charge Ready Transport and reducing greenhouse gas emissions here: https://crt.sce.com/overview
If you’re interested in learning how ESL can help provide safe utility power to electric or hybrid TRUs check out our eTRUconnect: https://eslpwr.com/etruconnect/
As Employee Owners, we do what is best for ESL passionately, honestly and with respect. Hear ESL Employee Owners share insights on what being a 100% Employee Owned Company means to them.
Whether it’s a group of friends, family, customers or vendors, Christmas caroling is still considered one of the most favored ways for people to get into the holiday spirit.
In appreciation for the many efforts made this year, the ESL team decided a good old Classic Christmas Carol would help bring in the tradition and nostalgia of the season.
Of course, the team never does anything in traditional form…
