52 Business View - November 2014
by leadership to be more selective in the types of work
being pursued for bid and to boost the operation’s
composite skill set by retaining the most productive
and capable workers.
A building that will house American Electric’s head-
quarters functions is under construction in the state’s
largest city and capital, Honolulu, and the completed
structure will ultimately include 7,500 square feet of
office and support space on roughly 1.5 acres of land.
The company has additional branch offices on the is-
land of Kauai and in both Hilo and Kona on the island
of Hawaii, as well as an office/electrical apparatus ser-
vice center on the island of Maui.
Projects are typically done on an in-state basis only,
but some work is performed for the military in the
western Pacific.
“Our typical client is a utility or industrial facility own-
er/developer, including various alternative energy pro-
ducers, refineries and fuel-handling operators,” Dewitz
said. “Our clients are looking for a firm that can ac-
complish technically exacting work with a high level of
quality and safety. For these clients, we accomplish
construction of new facilities, upgrade and repairs to
existing facilities and ongoing maintenance support.”
American Electric has recently marketed a sophisticat-
ed contracted electrical maintenance program called
TEGG, which is typically sold to institutions or large
commercial facilities seeking to ensure a high level of
electrical reliability and mitigation of risk due to elec-
trical equipment failures. It also offers arc flash stud-
ies and related services, and the products are sold by
a dedicated staff of five.
The company’s largest uptick in recent business has
come primarily from two sources.
On the utility side, it has been involved in several al-
ternative energy power plant projects, including a 30
megawatt waste-to-energy plant, a 120-megawatt bio-
diesel plant, a 28-megawatt woodchip biomass plant,
CONSTRUCTION
