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Quanta Services Inc., Houston, said TransCanada Corp. has selected Price Gregory Services Inc., one of its operating units, to be part of a joint venture called MPS Constructors LLC that will build 1,179 miles of pipeline and related infrastructure from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Neb., as part of the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline project. Jim O’Neil, president and CEO of Quanta Services, said in a press statement that the pipeline project is expected to directly create thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs in the United States, including at least 2,000 construction jobs for Quanta alone.
The project includes approximately 1,661-miles of 36-inch crude oil pipe that would begin at Hardisty, Alberta, and extend southeast through Saskatchewan, Mont., South Dakota and Nebraska. The pipeline would then incorporate the existing Keystone Pipeline Phase II through Nebraska and Kansas to serve markets at Cushing, Okla., before continuing through Oklahoma to a delivery point near existing terminals in Nederland, Texas, to serve the Port Arthur, Texas, marketplace. TransCanada said if construction of the pipeline begins early in 2012, it will be operational in the second half of 2013.
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Our friends at Penton Marketing Services went all-out to research, analyze and develop a whitepaper looking at the pain points marketing people in all kinds of businesses struggle with. “Truth from the Trenches: Insights from Penton Marketing Services’ 2011 B-to-B Marketing Needs Survey” analyzes data from thousands of marketing decision makers across 15 industries that Penton Media serves.

The survey found among the issues giving marketers headaches are their companies’ websites, search marketing, social media and lead management.

Note: Penton Media owns Electrical Marketing Newsletter and this website, as well as sister publications Electrical Wholesaling, EC&M and Transmission & Distribution World, and other trade publications in all kinds of vertical markets. Penton Marketing Services is our new full-service marketing division.

Graybar Electric Co., St. Louis, will open a new branch in Lafayette, Ind., on Nov. 1. The 10,000-square-foot facility, located at 500 Hamman St., will serve 11 counties in west-central Indiana.
Branch Manager Wendi Ayers will lead the staff of seven.

When CEO Sandy Cutler and his management team at Eaton Corp. rang the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, Oct. 21, it dramatized the company’s beginnings 100 years ago on this date. Inventor Viggo Torbensen and entrepreneur Joseph Eaton founded the company that would become Eaton Corp. Combining their ingenuity, Torbensen and Eaton developed an axle that enabled trucks to endure the rugged roads of the early 20th century, consume less fuel and demand less maintenance. Based in Cleveland since 1915, Eaton was first listed on the NYSE in 1923. The company has paid dividends on common shares every year since its initial listing. Details

Lingering doubts in the minds of business executives and consumers about the health of the U.S. economy, uncertainty over the political turmoil in Washington, D.C., and weak demand will probably choke off any significant growth in the 2012 construction market.
That’s the consensus of the construction economists at McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook 2012, held Oct. 19 in Washington, D.C. Compared to the double-digit declines that the industry suffered through the past three years, things could be worse than a year of no growth. But compared to the pinch-me-I-can’t believe-it’s-real 2006-2007 construction market, the new normal doesn’t feel so hot.
With the exception of the multiple-family housing market, which McGraw-Hill expects to grow 17 percent in 2012 to 205,000 units, progress will be slow — and hopefully won’t be torpedoed by a double-dip recession. Overall, McGraw-Hill Construction expects the level of construction starts in 2012 to be $412 billion, following the 4% decline to $410 billion predicted for 2011.
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ABB and Baldor said they would use a single U.S. sales force to sell and support the complete line of ABB and Baldor low- and medium-voltage industrial drives and industrial electric motors. The companies said in a press statement that this will offer customers a single point of contact for ABB and Baldor industrial motors, drives and generators; 24-hour local sales and service; the broadest range of industrial drives and motors in the marketplace from one source; and a full line of products for energy-efficient motor-driven systems.
Aaron Aleithe, V.P. and general manager for ABB US’ Low Voltage Drives business unit, said in a press release that this decision will make buying industrial motors and drives easier for customers.
Ron Tucker, Baldor’s CEO and president, said in the same release, “By pairing a Baldor premium-efficient motor with an ABB industrial drive, customers have the opportunity to further decrease their energy consumption significantly. ABB and Baldor both have a long history of manufacturing industrial electric motors and drives. Together, we believe we can take better care of our industrial customers than anyone else.”
ABB Ltd finalized a deal in January 2011 to buy Baldor for $4.2 billion. Details

Lowe’s said it plans to close 20 underperforming stores in 15 states. Seven of the stores are in New England, including locations in Haverhill, Mass.; Biddeford and Ellsworth, Me.; and Claremont, Hooksett and Manchester, N.H. Details

The Improving Market Index (IMI) published monthly by the National Association of Home Bulders (NAHB), Washington, D.C., shows that shows 23 individual housing markets now qualifying as “improving” under the new gauge’s parameters. This is nearly double the 12 housing markets that made the list last month. The index, published for the first time in September, reveals metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in housing permits, employment and housing prices. Click here to see if your metro is mentioned.

Aquion Energy in Pittsburgh is working on a sodium battery for helping to balance the electrical grid. The technology is said to be low-cost and durable. Should be an interesting one to follow.

Story from the blog New Energy and Fuel.