U.S. Lighting Technologies
• Where: Irvine
• 12-month sales: $24 million
• Two-year growth: 4,659%
• OC workers: 50
• Business: Energy-efficient lighting products
Cities and utilities across the nation funding green projects with federal stimulus money have boosted U.S. Lighting Technologies.
The Irvine company, which makes energy-efficient lighting, ranked No. 1 on the Business Journal’s 2010 list of fast-growing private companies with 4,659% sales growth for the two years through June, according to a Business Journal estimate.
For the 12 months ended June, U.S. Lighting had estimated sales of $24 million, up from $503,526 for the same period in 2008.
A $30 million, multiyear contract signed last year with New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. was a big factor in the company’s debut on the list.
New Jersey’s largest utility is replacing nearly 100,000 street lights with U.S. Lighting’s induction fluorescent lights, which are brighter, cheaper and last four times as long.
By the time the project ends next year, more than 90 municipalities are expected to take part in what’s believed to be the largest energy-efficient street light project in the country.
After Congress approved the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in early 2009, cities and towns were given a green light to pursue eco-conscious projects on the federal government’s dime. In many cases, lighting was the easiest and quickest upgrade.
“It was use it or lose it,” said U.S. Lighting President Richard Ham, who started the company in 2006 in Signal Hill.
Public Service Enterprise Group, which services more than 200 New Jersey municipalities, is using $50 million it received from the federal stimulus to fund the project.
In Southern California, U.S. Lighting has contracts with the cities of Brea and Carlsbad. It also has deals with Turlac in the Central Valley and Rocklin north of Sacramento for 2,000 to 10,000 lights.
One of U.S. Lighting’s induction street lights costs about $300. An installation takes two to 10 weeks, depending on the project and location.
Induction lights use technology similar to fluorescent lights, which use electricity to spur mercury vapor to produce ultra- violet light.
Unlike fluorescent lights, induction lights don’t need wires to shoot energy through the lamp. Instead they rely on a generator to fuel light.
In fluorescent lights, the wires turn dark after extensive use and burn out after two years. Induction lights last about 100,000 hours and use 30% to 40% less electricity than mercury vapor lights.
It usually takes 2.5 to three years for a return on investment for induction lighting, which still is an emerging technology that has seen some success in Europe but hasn’t hit critical mass because of high costs.
California requirements that government agencies cut green house emissions has helped U.S. Lighting find a niche in a market led by General Electric Co., Royal Philips Electronics NV and Osram Sylvania, the North American operation of Germany’s Osram GMBH.
“The low hanging fruit is always lighting,” said Ham, who said he expects some business to slowly fade as stimulus funding vanishes and government mandates are met.
That’s why the company is building up global sales, which account for about 10% of business today. Ham wants that percentage to climb to 50% as commercial applications, such as warehouses and parking lots, take root.
He sees opportunity in South America, particularly because countries there tend to mimic successful U.S. projects, he said.
U.S. Lighting specializes in street lights but also makes highway, parking, canopy and wall pack lights for warehouses, lofts, garages, high ceilings, parking lots and other commercial buildings.
The lighting industry is going through a reformation of sorts. The big players have devoted millions of dollars and other resources to commercializing light-emitting diode, or LED, products.
While experts consider LED the future, it hasn’t arrived yet. The five to seven years it takes to earn the money back from an LED investment has stymied mass adoption.
That has left the door open for induction lighting providers such as U.S. Lighting to nab market share by moving faster than bigger rivals.
“They didn’t realize the market,” said Ham, who previously worked for Hewlett Packard Co.
U.S. Lighting grew out of U.S. Energy Technologies, a family company started in 1992 by Ham’s parents, Byung and Sue Ham.
U.S. Energy made lights for GE and other companies that would sell them to big retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co.
After growing out of its Signal Hill operation, U.S. Lighting moved into a 58,000-square-foot building in Irvine, where it designs and makes some of its products.
It employees 50 people locally, up from 10 a year ago.
The company also does some manufacturing in Canada and Mexico.
That’s led to Department of Energy scrutiny of U.S. Lighting and Anaheim-based American Induction Technologies Inc. for possibly violating the “buy American” provision of the stimulus package applying to iron, steel and manufactured goods in a public works project.
The Energy Department last month concluded the companies didn’t violate the stipulation after an industry expert reviewed data submitted by the two and conducted site visits to inspect manufacturing processes.
