With over 100 years of experience, Sargent Electric is driving the projects powering US electrical infrastructure 

Where outstanding project management meets deep industry expertise, Sargent Electric (Sargent) is revolutionizing the electrical contracting sphere across the United States. With a legacy spanning over a century, the company has evolved and grown with the rise of the electrical sector and, today, it leads at the fore as the ‘go-to’ partner for business owners, contractors and developers across a wide multitude of industries. The Sargent story started in 1907 when the company was founded by the Sargent family in Pittsburgh, primarily working within the steel industry. Over the course of the next five decades, the business grew steadily and soon, following its longevity and success, it broadened its horizons to East Chicago in 1959. As the steel industry advanced and new target markets emerged, Sargent continued its expansion across the United States, opening offices in Maine, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and another in Pennsylvania. 

In 2020, Russ Timmers, Vice President at Sargent, was brought on board to set up the company’s Wisconsin location. The division made inroads into the industrial and commercial markets before securing its first utility-scale solar project in 2021. Since then, the Wisconsin office has gained precedence as the company’s leader in solar projects, with almost all of Sargent’s utility-scale solar projects run out of that location. Now, with the demand for renewable energy rapidly increasing, Sargent’s utility solar division is booming, and the company as a whole continues to be recognized for its dedication to project management excellence, skillful workmanship and professionalism. As the Founder of Sargent’s solar group, Russ Timmers recently sat down with Energy, Oil & Gas to discuss the company’s renewable operations and what the future might hold as the division continues to flourish. He starts by sharing insight into a recent significant solar project by Sargent – the construction of a major solar field in Illinois. 

“We recently completed a significant solar project in Springfield, Illinois. It was 600 megawatts A/C covering six square miles and it’s the largest solar field East of the Mississippi and the fifth largest in the United States,” Russ begins. “As part of that project, we connected 1,600,564 solar modules, installed 955,000 feet of 35,000-volt cable, 1,005,876 feet of DC feeder wire, and 27,365,000 feet of string wire. It took us two years and 428,500 man hours to complete the project, and we did so without a lost time or recordable injury, which is pretty notable. This summer, we’ll be kicking off four new similar solar projects: one in Michigan, one in Kansas and two in Ohio.” 

With its capabilities spanning across a wide multitude of industries – including industrial, commercial, infrastructure, telecommunications, and more – Sargent’s impressive portfolio boasts a vast variety of different projects. Renewable energy, in particular, is a growing market for the business, opening a plethora of opportunities for Sargent alongside its electrical projects. 

“Here in the upper Midwest, there’s a lot of mega dairy farms, so renewable energy and biogas facilities are becoming big businesses for us right now. We’ve built six of them so far and formed relationships with those developers, helping them to develop better processes and procedures for long term facilities. We’ve got four more similar projects on the books that we’re going to be working on this year and next. It’s a great renewable energy platform for us to be involved in,” Russ explains. “We’re also currently doing a lot of business with what we call ‘containerized electrical buildings’. We supply the manpower needed to help wire those up in their factories; because all these data centers require a lot of that equipment and cannot find enough skilled electricians to do the work, so they hire us to supplement their workforce.” 

One aspect of the business that Russ holds especially dear, however, is its working relationships. Whether it’s with Sargent’s customers, vendors or own people, he’s passionate to foster a positive and collaborative culture where every person, in-house or otherwise, knows how much they are valued and respected. The current climate poses several economic challenges, which have had a direct impact on the availability of both materials and qualified labor, but Russ is keen to go above and beyond to ensure that Sargent is able to overcome these obstacles and thrive. 

“The craft labor required to build the jobs we do is a bit of a troublesome spot for us because there is so much construction activity in the country right now that skilled labor is very hard to come by. In a lot of cases, we must pay them more than normal or give them some kind of incentive. It’s a struggle, but we’ve managed it so far. Solar, however, is a great market to be in in the current employment climate because there’s a lot of repetitive, non-technical work that can be done with entry-level people,” Russ explains. 

He continues: “As for our suppliers and vendors, we aim to treat them as partners. We’ve known these folks for quite some time; most are long-term relationships. We invite them to all our events, celebrations and Christmas parties so that they feel like a part of our family. When it comes to buying, we also go out of our way to spread the wealth and make sure we’re treating them fairly. They’re always bringing in new ideas and products to help keep our business competitive. We have several factory reps that actually call on us specifically to make sure we’re up to date on the latest tools and materials and, a lot of the time, they’ll go the extra mile, go back to the factories and get special pricing for us. “ 

Looking to the future, Russ is optimistic for the opportunities the electrical construction industry will continue to offer. Building upon its existing legacy and success, Sargent is eyeing further expansion, both geographically and into new emerging markets, all whilst maintaining the stellar reputation it’s renowned for. 

“In five years’ time, we’re probably going to be doubling or tripling our revenues, but then again, we are subject to economic downturns and things of a similar nature. Given the current climate however, I can’t see any significant downturns forecasted for the near term, so we’re going to keep building the business at a robust pace. We’ve got solid people working here and we have a great atmosphere and culture,” Russ concludes. “We’ve built all kinds of power plants across the country already, so we’re going to keep our eyes open on the new technologies. Nuclear fusion will hopefully come into fruition here in the next few years and new flow battery technology is starting to gain ground. We do quite a bit of work with battery storage systems already; in fact, we have built the largest one in place right now in California. We’re also heavily involved with data centers; our Pittsburgh group is building several of those right now and that business is going to be pretty robust for the next few years. Along with that, the power generation market is going to stay strong because data centers consume large amounts of electricity. I see the whole electrical contracting business being very strong moving forward.”  

www.sargentelectric.com