CdA company is generating big business

A North Idaho company is working extra hours to recycle refurbished and used power generators to help put the Gulf Coast back in business.

Critical Power Exchange, a 10-person firm from Coeur d’Alene, buys, refurbishes and resells power equipment, generators and other machinery from companies that close or upgrade their facilities.

Because of constant requests since Hurricane Katrina, the company is dealing with the busiest month it’s ever had, refurbishing and shipping units to government agencies restoring services in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast.

When major disruptions occur — as happened last year in Florida and this year near New Orleans — the company’s workers put in extra hours dealing with requests for usable power components.

“Some companies benefit when things like this happen, and we’re one of those,” said General Manager Kevin Kirking. “We’re glad we can be responsive and get people the equipment that can get them back in service.”

The company normally sells two or three generators every month. Since Katrina, Critical Power has sold six, and could sell as many as it can get its hands on, said Kirking.

Business interest spiked again Wednesday as Hurricane Rita barreled toward the Texas coast.

“With Rita about to hit, our phones were already ringing off the hook,” said Kirking during an interview Wednesday.

Power generators typically rely on diesel or some other fuel. They come in a wide range of sizes and types; Critical Power has a staff of three who regularly check newspapers, make phone calls and contact sources to track them down.

In the next few weeks Kirking will move the firm from Coeur d’Alene office to a Liberty Lake office in a building adjoining the warehouse. Business has been good enough that Kirking expects to add about six more workers in the next six months.

The company also finds and refurbishes power supply backup units, industrial-strength air-conditioning units and other specialized equipment. Those groups normally go through cycles of interest from customers. But generators were suddenly in demand once agencies began post-hurricane relief plans.

Marty Bahamonde, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Administration based in Baton Rouge, said FEMA has acquired more than 100 power generators since setting up a relief center in Louisiana.

All the units went to local, state or federal agencies needing generators to power communications centers, hospitals and other relief operations.

Kirking said the calls come in not just from FEMA but from other companies like Critical Power also on the lookout for generators for their own customers.

The 10 to 15 U.S. firms that refurbish and resell the equipment often exchange leads or sell to each other when it makes sense to do so, said Kirking. They’re looking for units that could be needed to provide power backup for hospitals, telecom buildings or government buildings, he added.

“We’re all pretty busy. My project managers work their cell phones on the weekends now,” he said, adding he’s putting in 50 to 60-hour weeks..

Critical Power Exchange looks for generators of nearly any size or type. The company’s buyers look for good used units or items that are now surplus because the original owner no longer needs them.

Most weigh between 30,000 and 60,000 pounds, and run in price between $30,000 and $250,000. “We buy and sell in that whole price range,” Kirking said.

Started in 1994, Critical Power Exchange has focused most of its attention on working with customers in the data-center industry. Those centers house usually large numbers of computers to handle data and information for large customers. The centers require high-grade environmental controls, specialized air-conditioners, and raised-tile floors to allow cables to be installed beneath the workspace.

After Enron Corp. filed for bankruptcy in late 2001, Kirking made sure Critical Power started shopping for discarded equipment from the failed energy firm’s large number of data centers. Eventually Critical Power bought more than $2 million worth of former Enron equipment, he said.

The generators bought from Enron are long gone, but the company’s 18,000-square-foot warehouse in Liberty Lake still has rows of power-backup units and air-conditioning modules from Enron’s bone yard.

Kirking said the company saw a surge from customers following the hurricanes that pounded Florida in 2004. “We didn’t quite double business (from the year before) but we were up substantially,” he said.

He’s not ready to say how Katrina’s aftermath will impact 2005 revenue. “We have a group of private owners and we keep our numbers very private,” said Kirking.

If the hurricane season calms down, the next task will be considering adding a warehouse outside the Pacific Northwest. “It will probably be somewhere along the East Coast. The transport costs, with the current cost of fuel, we have to look at that option,” said Kirking.