ev chargers

58 the ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTOR • Jan. 12 www.TedMag.com

LEADING THE CHARGE“STRONG, SILENT” CRESCENT ELECTRIC SUPPLY MAKES A POWER PLAY IN THE EV CHARGING MOVEMENT.

B E S T P R A C T I C E S

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If you ask Crescent ElectricSupply Vice President of Mar -keting Bob Settle to describe thecompany he works for, his re -sponse will be a mixture of ex -

treme pride tempered by an inherentdegree of modesty.

“It really boils down to Midwest val-ues,” he said of the 92-year-old distrib-utorship’s approach to doing business.“If you polled our customers, they’d saythat we’re easy to do business with,have high ethical standards, and arevery trustworthy.” Settle would proba-bly also characterize Crescent as a bit ofa quiet giant. “We’re very well knownat the local, grassroots level, but proba-bly few people realize how large a com-pany we are,” he said. “We’re under-stated, but we get the job done.”

Headquartered in East Dubuque, Ill.,Crescent is indeed a force to be reck-oned with. A privately held entityfounded in 1919 in Dubuque, Iowa, bythe Schmid family, Crescent currentlyhas 1,500 employees and 120 locationsin 26 states, mostly in the upper two-thirds of the country. Focused largely on the commercial construction, indus-trial, automation, and datacom markets,the company usually finds itself listedamong the top 10 distributors in theUnited States with respect to revenues.

AN ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOCUSCrescent has traditionally been an ag -gressive player in the lucrative energy-efficiency and energy solutions segment—providing free energy audits to cus-tomers to show them the magnitude of their upgrade opportunities; drivingtheir share of the energy retrofit mar-ket with products such as lighting, con-trols, power factor correction, and high-efficiency motors, drives, and pumps;

bringing the first LEED-certified build-ing online in Davenport, Iowa; andrecently delving into new renewableopportunities including solar and wind.But for Crescent’s management team,being good just isn’t good enough.

“Today’s fragile economy is aggres-sively driving cost management and, atthe same time, technology is providingnew solutions to manage energy costs,”said Dan Hill, company officer and vicepresident of Crescent’s east region, arole in which he’s responsible for thestrategic activity of more than 350 em -ployees spanning 32 locations fromChicago to New York. “In this perfectstorm of opportunity, we find our cus-tomers ready and able to invest in thelatest energy-saving products and elec-trical infrastructure improvements likenever before.

“Crescent is committed to company-wide, organic, year-over-year growth ineach of our districts, and economic con-ditions of the past two years have forcedus to become even more creative in ourapproach,” Hill added. “In an effort tocreate and facilitate an entrepreneurialculture focused on growth and identifynew sales opportunities by way of cus-tomer solutions, we’re constantly poll -ing the field and investing in our localteams’ business plans. Our EV strategywas born out of this framework.”

The EV strategy Hill is referring toinvolves Crescent’s recent and aggres-sive entrée into the EV charging market,an arena to which, Settle noted, Cres -cent began paying serious attention in2010, when it became clear that a greatdeal of interest and public awarenesswas mounting around electric cars fol-lowing the technology’s boost fromearly government funding.

“Crescent is a conservative, Mid -west ern company that’s been in the

www.TedMag.com Jan. 12 • the ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTOR 59

Dan Hill (right), vice president, eastregion; and Joe McDermott, Chicago

district manager, with an electricvehicle charger and a Chevy Volt

Story by Susan Bloom Photographs by Mike DeFilippo




energy business for a long time buthasn’t branded itself loudly. We have alot of talent and resources in place andsaw our EV strategy as a sound invest-ment in an emerging market, whichcould help position us for new growthand create more corporate awareness,”Settle said.

TAKING A LEADERSHIPPOSITIONAccording to the DOE, EVs are thosethat are propelled by an electric motor(or motors) powered by rechargeablebattery packs. Electric motors offer anumber of advantages over internalcombustion engines, including a highdegree of energy efficiency and envi -ronmental friendliness and an ability to provide smooth, quiet operation.

Though Hill and Settle acknowledgethat initial estimates of 1 million EVs onU.S. highways by 2015 was optimistic,

the demand for EV chargers and relatedinfrastructure will increase dramaticallyas the number of vehicles increases. Ac -cording to Hill and Settle, experts ex -pect that 1.5 chargers will ultimately beneeded for every electric car sold, basedon total residential and commercial/public installations. The two most popu-lar charger types available today areLevel 1 (120V) systems, which are pri-marily used for home installations, andLevel 2 (240V) systems, which provide afaster charge and can be used for com-mercial as well as residential applica-tions. There is also a Level 3 DC chargerthat will fully charge an EV in approxi-mately 30 minutes; commercial avail-ability of Level 3 chargers is limited atthis time but is expected to increase asmore manufacturers bring products tomarket.

“Level 1 chargers provide overnightcharging at home, while Level 2 charg-

ers can provide a full recharge in threeto four hours or one-hour re freshercharges,” explained Energy Spe cialistBill Ebie. “These installations offer themunicipal organizations or stores thatprovide them the loyalty of and trafficfrom EV drivers, in addition to a greencompany identity.”

But Crescent sees sales opportunitiesbeyond just chargers. “Charging stationinstallations often include infrastructureimprovements to support them, andthese improvements fall into two cate-gories: power distribution and computernetworking,” Ebie said. “Power distrib-ution requirements include a dedicatedelectrical service for each station. In ad -di tion, computer network [LAN] hook -ups should be provided to broadcast sta-tion availability over the Internet toboost traffic, as well as for monitoringsoftware, which provides support formarketing programs and reporting.

A dark wire aisle inthe Crescent Electricwarehouse is a signthat the occupancysensors are doingtheir job.




Crescent can supply all aspects of thissystem.”

CREATIVE MARKETINGCrescent began its initial foray into theEV charging market by establishing rela-tionships with four primary suppliers ofthese systems—General Electric, Eaton,Schneider/Square D, and Leviton. Ac -cord ing to Settle, the company priori-

tized its geographic approach to servingthis market nationwide according toareas of high environmental awareness,such as California, as well as locationswhere EV manufacturers like Ford, GM,and Nissan were located and/or launch-ing new products, such as Nashville,Tenn., the site of a Nissan factory.

“Taking these locations into account—along with the approximately 100

cities listed as members of the DOE’sClean Cities Coalition, we then over-laid Crescent’s map of branch locationsand identified 10 target markets wherewe felt we could match up demand forEVs and charging systems with our abil-ity to sup ply,” Settle said. These sites in cluded Bloomington/Normal, Ill.; Chi cago; Dal las; Den ver; Indianapolis;Kan sas City, Mo.; Nashville; Phoenix;Port land, Ore.; and San Diego (withother locations to follow as the demandfor EV chargers spreads, Settle noted).In each of those cities, Crescent deter-mined which of its four suppliers topartner with and began planning eventsat stra tegic branch locations where itcould showcase and demo the systemsfor custom ers and influential industrymem bers as well as help train contrac-tors and installers.

In that capacity, Crescent has outfit-ted several of its branches around thenation with charging stations for thepurposes of providing hands-on trainingand demonstrating system operation tobusiness owners and municipalities.

According to Chicago Territory Dis -trict Manager Joe McDermott, whosebranch in Rockdale, Ill., hosted Cres -cent’s first special event around EVs and other specialty electrical equipmentin September 2011, “We had a ChevyVolt on a live charge on display and anycustomer could drive it to see how itworked. We also had the contractor who installed it, a representative fromLeviton, and one of our applicationengineers on hand to answer questions.We had great attendance by a range ofhigh-quality, interested people—fromowners of construction and contractingfirms to public works people from localvillages, etc. It was extremely encourag-ing because everyone who attended hada genuine interest in learning. We’vegiven out several quotes so far.”

In Missouri, Crescent District Man -ager Marc Horner’s two branches re -cently became involved with EV supplyequipment and engaged in their ownstrategic activities. “We partnered locallywith Schneider Electric and installedone of its stations at our facility in Kan -

Top: The counter area features many energy management devices. Here, Counter SalesRepresentative Archie Gavin (left) demonstrates the features of a Square D Power Logicsystem to a customer. Bottom: Crescent Electric’s warehouse serves as a training centerfor ways customers can save energy through various lighting and technical applications.




sas City at the end of Septem ber,” Hor -ner said. “We also ex hibited at the 2011Clean Transpor ta tion Exposi tion inOverland Park, Kan., in Octo ber.” Ac -cording to Horner, “Our customers andcommunity members have ex pressedhappiness to see us in this market be -cause now they will know where tocome for information when they needto be educated.”

“It’s about sensitizing the market tothis product and letting people knowthat Crescent is their partner,” said BillAlbert, Crescent’s district manager cov-ering the Denver district of Colo radoand Wyoming.

“We installed an EV charger in ourDenver branch in fall 2011 and, whilewe haven’t seen tremendous demandfor this even though Colorado is a rela-tively green state, we’ve quoted on acouple of jobs and we’re hearing morediscussions surrounding this productand seeing greater marketplace accep-tance of it as an option,” Albert said.“There’s definitely a role for this prod-uct to play and it seems customers arestarting to warm up to the concept moreand more. It’s really up to us to plantthe seed and help get the word outthere. By doing that, we’ll be able to dif-ferentiate ourselves in the market.”

“Electric cars won’t be everywhereovernight,” McDermott agreed, “butthey’ll definitely be present for the nextgeneration. Regarding Crescent’s role in this ramp-up, EVs really speak to the broader concept of sustainability,not simply retrofits. All of it is really our business and so we have to be theeducators.”

THE LONG VIEWBoth Settle and Hill are well aware ofthe obvious challenges associated withthe EV category, including the fact thatdemand for chargers will be limited bythe growth, development, and introduc-tion of viable EVs. Challenges facing EVmanufacturers include range anxietyand vehicle cost (largely attributed tocurrently bulky battery packs). Rangeanxiety will be relieved, to some extent,as the infrastructure of EV charging sys-

Partners in armsCrescent’s suppliers are equally excited to be part of its EV initiative and educa-tional team. Leviton Manufacturing (leviton.com), one of the company’s four suppli-ers nationwide, launched its EVR-Green line of commercial charging stations inNovem ber 2010 and provides a full suite of EV charging solutions.

“Leviton has a strong commitment to training and education and, since the EVmarket is very new, we’ve been providing training for electrical distributors and

commercial property owners across thecountry,” said Melissa Martin, director ofbusiness development for the commercialand industrial segment. “We’ve found thateveryone has been very eager to learnabout the EV market, and we’re regularlyrequested to speak at industry and sustain-ability events. We look forward to seeingmore EV options introduced by automakers,to supplying all aspects of EV chargingequipment to the market, and to continuingto partner with progressive suppliers likeCrescent.”

According to Mike Calise, director of EVcharging solutions, Power Business NorthAmerica for Schneider Electric (schneider-electric.com), “This is a sizable market forSchneider Electric to serve now and into the future. Today, the issue is not about

generation or access to vehicles, but rather about in frastructure,” he said. “Until EV buyers see convenient charging station options with in their community, they’ll be reluctant to buy EVs. The market is heating up very quickly and demand forcharger infrastructure is on the rise. As a result, we see the partnership betweenCrescent and Schneider Electric as critical to helping contractors obtain the ade-quate supply in order to meet the market needs for EVs and infrastructure. Overall,we’re get ting excellent feedback from both residential and commercial customerson our EVlink charging stations and they’ve ex pressed satisfaction and happiness intheir ability to do business with the combined strengths of two established leadersin the industry.”

Michael Mahan, general manager, EV Infrastructure, General Electric (ge.com),is equally bullish on the potential for the EV opportunity. “We think this is going tobe a multibillion-dollar market in the coming years,” he said. “We view the EV mar-ket as a great unifying force that cuts across many of GE’s areas of expertise—power generation, energy transmission and distribution, circuit protection, fleetleasing, infrastructure financing, and consumer products—and we’re excited to beleading this industry now, while it’s still in its formative years.”

Eaton (eaton.com) currently collaborates with Crescent in Bloomington, Ill.;Dallas; Phoenix; Port land, Ore.; and Tucson, Ariz., where it “combines the best of Cres cent’s local presence and customer relationships with Eaton’s EV chargingproducts, services, and solid reputation in electrical power distribution,” saidEaton’s John Wirtz, electric transportation infrastructure business unit manager.

“Through this collaboration, which will include continued joint marketing andtraining initiatives throughout 2012, Eaton is helping to create the infrastructureleading to the adoption and expanded use of EVs. We’re eager to provide our com-prehensive solutions and service to Crescent’s EV program and to support thecom munities where we do business,” Wirtz concluded. —S.B.



tems expands and advances in batterytechnology promise to lower the costand extend the range of EVs in thefuture. “This market is emerging in fitsand spurts and it’s really a game ofpatience right now,” Hill said.

However, the company can speak to some impressive gains, most notablythe request for 40-plus chargers fromEaton, which Crescent’s Peoria districtrecently sold directly to the city of Nor -mal, Ill., for its electric car initiative, acampaign that has been featured in alight-hearted but highly publicized na -tional television commercial and adseries run by auto manufacturer Mit su -bishi. An additional order was recentlyreceived from the city of Normal for 10more EV chargers, including one Level 3fast charger.

“In our Eastern zone, we’ve sold EVchargers from Normal to Nashville andpoints in between,” Hill confirmed.“Level 2 chargers have been the highestsellers of all models, although recently

we’ve seen a strong bump in quotationsfor Level 1 home chargers. And charg-ers are just one portion of the equation—the ancillary products required tobring the electrical infrastructure to coderepresent an additional opportunity,” hesaid.

Settle, too, has clarity regarding theshort-term reality but long-term poten-tial of the EV initiative to Crescent. “We recognize that this is not an im-mediate sell and that it can take years to see momentum in EV sales,” he ex -plained. “However, we want to lead thatpro cess and be a resource center for ourcustomers as well as a conduit back tomanufacturers.

“It’s been an outreach program for usand we’ve been hitting the conferencetrail and speaking at seminars and tomunicipalities about the benefits of theEV market and a partnership with Cres -cent Electric,” Settle continued. “Whatwe’ve been doing so far is evangelism—creating awareness of the resources

we have available so that we can helpmatch up current and emerging EVtechnology with the municipalities, uni-versities, businesses, and other cus-tomers that can benefit from it.”

According to Hill, “Emerging tech-nologies such as EV infrastructure willdefinitely play an increasingly signifi-cant role in our industry going forward.Early adoption is taking place now andwe believe that government incentivesthat improve the financial practicality ofEVs will continue to accelerate this mar-ket’s growth.

“There’s no question that EVs willbecome commonplace; the real questionis, ‘How soon?’ As we see it, Crescent’sabil ity to provide holistic en ergy solu-tions that include charging stations po -sitions us as the best partner in theseuncharted waters,” Hill concluded. ■

Bloom is a 20-year veteran of the lightingand electrical products industry. Reach herat [email protected].

A Chevy Volt chargeson a Leviton charging

station at the CrescentElectric facility in

Rockdale, Ill.

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