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Beam signing marks the next phase of $22.5M expansion project at Prysmian in Williamsport

By Pat Crossley 4 min read

Characterizing the $22.5 million expansion at Prysmian's Williamsport plant as a project that will "play a vital role in reshaping the electric grid in the United States," said David Horton, plant manager, as he addressed workers and guests at the beam signing ceremony Tuesday.

"As we gather here, we're celebrating the future of our plant and the future opportunities that these types of projects bring us," Horton said.

The expansion will add 51,000 square feet to the existing building and increase the workforce locally by 27 to a total of over 200 employees at the Williamsport site

Paul Furtado, COO of Prysmian Group North America, commented that the event was momentous "not only just signing the beam, which obviously has a lot of symbolic meaning to it, because we're leaving behind something for generations to come, but also what it means to us as an organization."

"Over the last 12 to 15 months, the organization announced over $100 million of critical investments needed to support the needs of this country, as well as other countries here in North America -- to improve the power distribution of electricity in this country is much needed.

"I do want to acknowledge the employees, all of you who day in day out represent not only yourselves extremely well, the organization, but more importantly the local community. We're investing not only in the current employees, but also the future employees, and we're also investing in the local community, which is important," Furtado said.

Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter, who also spoke to the group assembled for the signing, noted that Prysmian has had a plant in the city for nearly 50 years.

"During that time the people of Williamsport have come to know Prysmian and what this company is all about, which is why we are so excited that they have made this critical investment in our community," Slaughter said.

"Prysmian is a great partner with the city and we look forward to many, many years of this partnership continuing to grow and expand here," he added.

Prysmian manufactures underground and submarine cables and systems for power transmission and distribution, as well as medium and low-voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure sectors. The company also produces a comprehensive range of optical fibers, copper cables and connectivity systems for voice, video and data transmission for the telecommunications sector.

"This is a very exciting time for the group," said Brian DiLascia, senior vice president of power distribution with Prysmian.

"We make products that wre driving renewable energy that are changing the infrastructure of the transmission grid in the United States, DiLascia said.

"We're very happy to see our team in the audience. What made it very easy for us to make a decision is having such a great community here, such a great employee base that's done a fantastic job for the company. That really made this the right play for us," DiLascia said.

When the project was announced earlier this year, it was disclosed that Prysmian had received a funding proposal from the Department of Community and Economic Development for a $3 million Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority loan and a $135,000 Pennsylvania First grant, the news release said. The company was also encouraged to apply for tax credits through the Commonwealth's Manufacturing Tax Credit Program.

The expansion project at the local plant was also funded substantially by a long-term supply agreement with Invenergy Transmission.

Invenergy is involved in several long-distance high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission projects across the country including the Grain Belt Express.

Noting that there are 1,400 miles between Williamsport and Dodge City, Kansas, Patrick Whitty, senior vice president of transmission public affairs at Invenergy, explained that was where the Grain Belt Express power line begins.

"It will carry more than any other power line in the country," he said, equal to about 5000 megawatts or the power created by about four nuclear power plants.

"The conductor you produce here will be used to make it possible to move power over 1,400 miles. Moving power over 1,400 miles means electric and electric grid emergencies -- like when Pennsylvanians were asked to turn the lights off for Christmas last year -- that regional grids will have the power they need because it can be exported from where it's available to where it's needed," Whitty said.

"Moving power over 1,400 miles also means the Pennsylvanians will be able to share in the billions of dollars and energy savings that will come from capturing the cheapest wind energy available in the world, which sweeps off the Rocky Mountains and over the open plains of Kansas. It also powers the devices we depend on. And affordable, reliable electricity is essential for our future," Whitty said.

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