RUS grows through Waste-to-Energy
Regional Utility Services is a small business that wants to grow along with the Waste-to-Energy industry. RUS representatives Nathan Faulkner and Don Varner recently attended the 24th Annual North American Waste-to-Energy Conference in Florida. The conference focused on managing existing power generation facilities for maximum success, as well as exploring the best opportunities to develop new facilities to recover energy from waste.
While coal-fired facilities have formed the backbone of the Southeast’s power grid, the commitment to generate cleaner energy has encouraged many companies to retire older, less efficient coal-fired plants and replace them with low- or zero-emission electricity sources, including:
- Cleaner natural gas plants
- Increased nuclear capacity
- Investments in renewable resources
As power generation companies continue to diversify their portfolios with alternative energy sources, Regional Utility Services wants to be a key player in the future of energy. RUS crews have a specialized skill set from their work in the fossil fields; these skills are a valuable asset in the WTE industry.
Whether a power plant is creating energy using coal or using waste, the equipment is similar: conveyor systems, boilers, dryers, bag houses, scrubbers, turbines and generators. Instead of the WTE industry spending their resources training new installation and maintenance crews, these companies can hire RUS crews that already possess the specialized skill sets to go straight to work.
“Coal processing plants have closed at a faster speed than anyone originally predicted,” said President and CEO Dan Cothran. “We have trained and experienced fossil crews on hand who can quickly and easily adapt to the equipment in the WTE field.”