WARRIORS OF - Electrical Business Magazine

editor’s noteOpportunities with the Green RushThey are like a fl ashin the pan. Theyhave no history. Norelationships. Theirbusiness cards arewritten up and cutout by hand.For some time now , I’ve been trying to paymore attention to what electrical distributorsare doing, if anything, to get a piece of therenewables pie.When commenting on the Canadian SolarIndustries Association’s (CanSIA’s) last nationalconference in Toronto, I noted “It’s like the WildWest in here”... though it is more appropriate toliken the renewable energy industry (especially inOntario) to a gold, no, green rush. (Electrical BusinessMarch 2011, page 3)However, if we can adapt more quickly to the greenopportunity (faster than we did with the opportunitybrought by datacom), then the opportunities will begreat; environmental awareness and politics will seeto that!So wrote John Kerr in his Fall 2010 “Market Mix”column. He went on to provide some additionalsuggestions as to how to leap into—and start takingadvantage of—that green rush.In Ontario, the rush for lucrative Feed-In-T ariff(FIT) and microFIT contracts has attracted numerousso-called “solutions providers” from all partsof the globe. Don’t get me wrong: a lot of providersare stable, well-known global players with excellentreputations. It’s the other ones I worry about—theones we should all worry about: the ones who, literally,are here today and gone tomorrow.They are like a flash in the pan. They have nohistory. No relationships. Their business cards arewritten up and cut out by hand.For something as long-term as a FIT contract(say, 25 years), you would think they would be scrutinizedright out of the market. Y et they persist,and I would argue it’ s because still not enough isbeing done on our end to make C anada’s establishedelectrical channel the preferred channel forrenewables solutions.That said, it’s encouraging to see some distributorseither acquiring or developing in-houserenewables expertise to address this market segment.One person I met recently at a regional solarevent bore the title “Solar Specialist”. Our industryneeds more of him.Also, at least one distributor is taking its renewablesmessage straight to end users. Sonepar firstcaught my eye in this regar d last summer whenOsso Electric—in partnership with Solar Semiconductor—setup a 3kW mobile solar array displayat The Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto tohelp Boom 97.3 FM pump ou t its music. Ea rlierthis year, Sonepar Canada launched BlueW ay: asocial and educational online community designedto “provide and share knowledge for the sustainablecreation and use of electricity”.Not long after, I stumbled upon Sonepar at theNational Home Show. Among the staf f were twoSolar Reps, discussing renewables with all the JoeAverages attending this consumer show . Ratherthan simply encourage electrical contractors topush green solutions on their customers, the strategyhere seems to be that of creatin g demand atthe customer level, and have the customer push theelectrical contractor straight back to his electricaldistributor for solutions.Ultimately, you have to do that with which youare comfortable and willing to support. A socialmedia site, for example, may not be right for you.Mitch Joel, who returns to the S&D Conferencethis year, explains social media is the last thingyou do, especially when your heart isn’ t into it,and you feel like you don’t have the time to do it.(D&S Spring 2010, page 4)My eyes may deceive me but, looking back,I don’t see a single recognized electrical distributorexhibiting at the aforementioned CanSIA nationalconference. (I’ve not checked the exhibitor list forCanWEA’s [Canadian Wind Energy Association’s]last gathering, but will it be much dif ferent?)How you wish to proceed is up to you, but tonot proceed at all ensures one thing: that someoneelse will be munching on what little piece of pieyou now have.4 Spring 2011 • Distribution & Supply