Orange County will play a prominent role as the home field of Edison Energy Group, recently established by one of the world’s largest electricity producers as a launch pad of sorts, with specializations in consulting, engineering and solar-energy installations.
The new unit of Rosemead-based Edison International has temporary space at The Vine, an incubator developed by the Irvine Company at 5151 California Ave. in University Research Park. It’s scouting a permanent home in the vicinity, with an eye on something more than traditional office space.
“We’re negotiating a tight lease on a piece of property in Irvine that will satisfy our needs to expand for the foreseeable future,” said President Allan Schurr, a former IBM executive who’s been commuting from Colorado to Irvine since taking the post last August. “We’re hoping to move by September.”
Ronald Litzinger, a former president of Southern California Edison, has been named chairman of the new group.
Schurr declined to give a specific location, and it’s not known whether the deal for a permanent headquarters is being negotiated with Newport Beach-based Irvine Co., which developed University Research Park and the lion’s share of the land in the surrounding areas stretching from Fashion Island to John Wayne Airport and beyond.
The headquarters will feature an interactive lab outfitted with the latest technology products to help the firm’s growing customer base of big energy users—namely Fortune 500 companies—integrate new devices and services to better monitor, control and analyze power consumption.
“There will be a purpose to come visit us,” Schurr said.
Edison International chose OC, and specifically Irvine, over other areas in the Los Angeles region to launch the business. The ease of traveling through John Wayne International Airport and navigating local thoroughfares drove the decision as much as leveraging local technology talent and the region’s growing base of startups, or utilizing partnerships with the University of California-Irvine or other nearby schools.
“It was the only choice,” Schurr said of the OC headquarters. “We talk about client experience and being able to spend the most time with us.”
Edison Energy employs about 200 companywide and roughly a dozen in Irvine—numbers that are expected to grow as the company taps into a customer base acquired in three recent deals and into the financial muscle of its parent.
Edison International, which operates Southern California Edison, posted earnings last year of about $1.1 billion on revenue of $11.5 billion. Platts Strategic Media, a unit of New York-based McGraw Hill Financial Inc., ranked the company No. 37 among the top 250 energy producers in the world, based on assets, revenue, profits and invested capital.
The latest move by Edison comes during a dramatic change in the energy sector as the cost to produce, store and control power through smart devices and grids has lowered, thanks to the recent boom in natural gas, paired with government subsidies for various sustainable sources. Those factors are providing more choices for corporations as they try to meet sustainability goals and the often complex mandates of local, regional and national policies.
Edison Energy, which is on the hunt for more strategic buys, recently established a So-Core solar rooftop installation venture that’s seeing early success, and runs a business that bids for transmission construction contracts nationwide.
Schurr declined to list active customers but did say the company has been helping Detroit-based General Motors Inc. acquire renewable energy sources in wholesale markets around the U.S. The firm, which competes against the likes of Exelon, GE and Siemens, has provided services for some customers with operations in Mexico and Canada as it gradually expands worldwide, according to Schurr.
“We’ll go global as soon as our clients ask us to support them in other markets,” he said.
Edison Energy operates offices in Boston, New York, Chicago and Dublin, Ohio, that were acquired through the recent purchases of ENERActive Solutions in Asbury Park, N.J.; Delta Energy Services in Ohio; and Boston-based Altenex. The trio of consultancies specialize primarily in the analysis, design and installation of energy-efficient projects utilizing wind, solar, biomass and hydro technologies.
“Since January we’ve been integrating these companies into our operation and taking clients in one business and exposing them to new solutions in one of the other businesses,” Schurr said. “We will be expanding the footprint over the U.S. in the next two or three years so we have national coverage. They need to be in some proximity to the market.”
