LAGCOE '15: Diamond Sponsor Louisiana Cat is driven by efficiency
LAFAYETTE -- SEC Energy Products & Services was founded in 2004 as a full-service compression design and manufacturing company. In 2009, Energy Transfer purchased SEC Energy. Since then, SEC Energy has achieved approximately $31 million in growth.
Dale Shows, Facility/Safety Manager and Power Generation Sales, is the primary contact for the generator side of the company. Dale explained, “That is where my dealings with Louisiana Cat have taken place, on rentals as well as sales.”
Sec Energy’s primary business is gas compression. Dale added, “Ours is a continuous duty run, so we primarily cater to the gas industry.” Most of SEC Energy’s products are resales, Dale continued, “We re-rent and re-sale products, most in lieu of utility services being available.” Sec Energy services several areas in the Texas shale plays, West Texas and South Texas.
A sizable number of the facilities, that are SEC Energy’s customers, have no infrastructure, or they are waiting on it to be installed. This is where the Power Generation side comes in. “We did a large rental project last year with Energy Transfer’s Rebel plant,” Dale explained. “We brought in 5 MW of rental power from Louisiana Cat using their G1250 gas gensets linked to a buck-up transformer, converting the power to 4160 with all gensets being controlled remotely from an MCC Module.” Through this module, Energy Transfer was able to bring generators online and shutoff equipment as necessary. Dale commented, “We had all of the load sharing and it worked real efficiently.”
This particular project was ongoing for four months while waiting for utility power to bring service to the facility. “As the facility completed construction and came online, it was imperative to have electricity to bring the plant up and for testing, as well as being able to move gas.” Dale commented. “That’s one of the biggest reasons for utilizing Louisiana Cat’s rental fleet of natural gas generators.” When comparing natural gas to diesel, Dale affirms, “Diesel is a lot more in fuel cost and our customers have the gas, so it is ready fuel.”
Another project that Dale is proud of featured the Cat 3520 gas engine gensets. These gensets provided 6 MW of electricity through generators to act as supplemental power for a 20-MW facility. Dale said, “This provided the power to be able to run the plant for about 12 months until the utility company could bring out enough power to them to be able to turn off the gensets and go to utility power.”
SEC Energy is currently working on a project to provide backup power to a full facility. “It is primarily setup to where if they lose utility power, they would be able to transfer over to the generators and actually run the full facility.” “In the midstream gas business, we really get paid to move the gas down the pipe,” Dale added. “The reason you see new and rental equipment being procured is so they can keep the plants online.
Dale works with Louisiana Cat Electric Power Sales Representative Corey Dupuis to ensure efficiency and success in his projects. Dale complimented Corey, “Most of my projects are tied to Corey. He’s been effective at what I’ve put in front of him, as far as challenges and making it happen. And that’s where our relationship has really paid off.”
Although SEC Energy is based out of Houston, Texas, many of their projects are in Louisiana, based around the midstream gas markets. “Most of the projects I’m involved in are normally tied to gas, either the liquids type stations or the actual gas plants, where they’re moving gas through the facility. Our customers include Tiger Pipeline and Regency Gas. Regency also one of our sister companies. We work projects with them in North Louisiana, running their facilities for power generation.” Because fuel cost is minimum, these customers find it to be more resourceful to control their power through power generation.
Dale has been impressed with the product support provided by Louisiana Cat. “Even though one of the jobs was in West Texas, Louisiana Cat had sent their techs for about two weeks to train personnel and make them feel comfortable with the equipment.”
“At the same time, Louisiana Cat aligned themselves with the West Texas Cat dealer to do the preventative maintenance,” Dale said. He described the partnership between the two dealers and SEC energy as “trouble free.” “Louisiana Cat has put guys on a plane and had them in the facility within 24 hr, when a problem arose. It was to our benefit that Louisiana Cat stepped up and sent their guys out immediately. They lived up to their commitment, bottom line,” Dale explained.
“The services provided by Louisiana Cat have been exceptional compared to other Cat dealers I’ve dealt with across the country. The experience and knowledge of the personnel they have furnished to me, has always proven to be well worth the money spent,” Dale concluded.
