CAZENOVIA — A Central New York farm and landscaping equipment dealer believes it has solid ground on which to build windmills — its reputation. The John Deere dealership Cazenovia Equipment Co. installed its first wind turbines this year — putting up windmills at three dairy farms, one apple orchard, and an organic farm under its […]
CAZENOVIA — A Central New York farm and landscaping equipment dealer believes it has solid ground on which to build windmills — its reputation.
The John Deere dealership Cazenovia Equipment Co. installed its first wind turbines this year — putting up windmills at three dairy farms, one apple orchard, and an organic farm under its Cazenovia Equipment Co. Energy division. The division, dubbed CEC Energy for short, hopes to use the equipment dealer’s longstanding upstate New York presence to convince customers it is here to stay.
Longevity is an important selling point because farms and other large-scale energy users are often concerned about renewable-energy companies’ stability, according to Mark Ferrara, CEC Energy project manager. The green-energy industry has been cyclical, and installers going out of business can leave customers searching for someone to service their renewable-energy equipment, he continues.
“It has traditionally been a problem in the industry,” Ferrara says. “What we bring to the industry is we’re going to be here for the next 50 years. We’ve been in business 50 years. We’re going to be here 50 more.”
CEC Energy’s wind-power projects cost between $70,000 and $5 million before state and federal incentives, Ferrara says. The division can install windmills of varying capacity, both over and under 100 kilowatts. A 50-kilowatt turbine normally produces between 100 kilowatt hours and 200 kilowatt hours in a year, enough to power a small- to medium-sized dairy farm, Ferrara adds.
“It’s something to help them reduce energy costs and be more profitable in business,” he says. “Turbines are expensive, but over the next 20 years you’re going to be paying a lot to the utility companies. Where do you want your money to go?”
CEC Energy also recently started offering solar-power equipment. It hasn’t installed any solar projects yet, but will be looking for farms, schools, hospitals, and other large, non-residential users who are interested.
The division works with wind-power manufacturers including Endurance Wind Power, which has its U.S. offices in Utah, Vermont–based Northern Power Systems, and Aeronautica Windpower, LLC of Massachusetts. CEC Energy plans to primarily install products from the solar-power manufacturer Helios Solar Works of Milwaukee.
Ferrara and two other employees make up the CEC Energy division, which is based in Cazenovia Equipment Co.’s new headquarters at 2 Remington Park Drive in Cazenovia. The dealer built that 28,500-square-foot facility after an August 2011 fire decimated its former 16,000-square-foot headquarters up the road at 3200 U.S. Route 20 in Nelson. The Remington Park Drive building opened for business April 9 of this year.
Cazenovia Equipment Co. also operates locations in Chittenango, Cortland, Clinton, Oneonta, LaFayette, Sandy Creek, Lowville, and Watertown. CEC Energy will serve all areas of upstate New York, Ferrara says. But the division has no plans to hire new employees at this time.
“In the upcoming years we are not looking to expand to put in 20 projects per year,” Ferrara says. “We are focusing on a smaller number of very high-quality projects.”
Cazenovia Equipment Co. started CEC Energy in the spring of 2010 after being approached by an initiative known as the Harvest the Wind Network. That network was started by a Kansas John Deere dealership, BTI Inc., to help other John Deere dealers sell and service wind-energy products.
Ferrara declined to share revenue totals and projections for CEC Energy or Cazenovia Equipment Co. But Cazenovia Equipment Co. President and co-owner Michael Frazee told The Central New York Business Journal in August that the company was on pace to generate $80 million in the fiscal year that ended Nov. 1. The business posted revenue of $68 million the year before, he said.
Frazee also shared plans to add 15 employees companywide over a calendar year, which would bring Cazenovia Equipment Co.’s total number of employees to 185. About 40 of those work at its headquarters.
CEC Energy attempts to find new customers by attending state agricultural shows and by hosting wind-power seminars, Ferrara says. Its next showcase is Cazenovia Equipment Co.’s “Drive Green Event” at the New York State Fairgrounds March 22-23.
“We gather people, many of whom have similar questions,” Ferrara says. “And we can really answer many of those questions at the same time.”
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com