Peck Company Holdings, a South Burlington solar energy company that went public in June, reported a third-quarter revenue increase of nearly 200% over the same quarter last year.
The company reported to investors on Nov. 13 that it is looking for ways to expand through mergers and acquisitions.
Peck’s revenues rose 194% from $3.9 million in the third quarter last year to $11.7 million for the third quarter this year, the company reported. Its officers credited an increase in solar project work.
“We are dedicated to expanding our business into new markets to increase our revenue and cash flow,” CEO Jeffrey Peck told investors on a conference call Nov. 13.
Peck is a solar EPC company – one that provides engineering, procurement, and construction of solar energy systems. The former electric company, founded in 1972, started installing solar systems in 2012, and now provides services for residential and commercial and utility-scale projects, the company said. Peck has installed more than 125 megawatts worth of solar.
Peck is a large player nationally, said Kelly Pickerel, editor in chief of the Cleveland, Ohio-based Solar Power World magazine. The magazine ranks almost 500 companies on its Top Solar Contractors list each year, and Peck Company has consistently placed in the Top 100 solar installation companies since 2014, Pickerell said.
“What’s notable about Peck Solar compared to fellow Vermont solar company Encore Renewable Energy is that Peck is handling all aspects of installation rather than subbing that work out,” she said. Encore, which is based in Burlington, provides project siting, design, engineering, permitting, and project management services for commercial solar projects.
“Many national solar developers are turning to Peck to carry out the installation of solar projects within the state because Peck has established a reputation as a dependable contractor,” Pickerel said.
Peck changed its name from Peck Electric Co. last summer after becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of a company called Jensyn Acquisition Group in Freehold, New Jersey, and became the fifth publicly traded company based in Vermont. Officials from Peck rang the closing bell at NASDAQ in New York City to mark the occasion.
Peck Company reported operating income of just 1.5% of sales in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to 13.9% in the same period last year. That drop in income was partly due to higher depreciation of equipment and solar arrays, Jeffrey Peck said. He added that costs associated with going public on June 20 also ate into profits in the quarter.
Thanks to a national solar investment tax credit, these are good times for national solar companies, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association, which reported that the cost to install solar has dropped by more than 70% in the past decade. SEIA said the cost of a typical residential system has dropped from $40,000 in 2010 to about $18,000 now, making it competitive with other forms of generation.
Solar has grown about 50% each year in the last decade, SEIA said.
“Installations surged in 2016 ahead of potential expiration of the ITC, but an extension in late 2015 has created federal policy stability through 2021,” the group said.
However, the number of solar installations in Vermont is dropping, according to information reported by the utilities to ISO New England, the regional transmission organization.
David Blittersdorf, a renewable energy entrepreneur, said state policies discourage solar development in Vermont and that’s why companies like Peck and SunCommon, another large solar EPC company based in Vermont, are looking at markets outside of the state.
“We have to go and redo the rules and the law, because we are losing jobs and all the big solar companies are going to New York and Massachusetts,” Blittersdorf said. “We have a governor who says we can’t do anything dramatic to deal with carbon emissions.”
Markets in other Northeast states are at the center of the growth strategy Jeffrey Peck outlined on Nov. 13.
“We want to build throughout New England and the Northeast,” Jeffrey Peck said. “We are in a unique position to expand and are intensely focused on our performance.”
Peck Company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the third quarter were $400,000, or 3.5% of sales, the company said – compared to $600,000, or 16% of sales in the same period last year. Company officials said in the prepared statement that the company expects to see the profits increase as projects move toward completion, without a need to raise equity capital.
