Quanta Services Acquires Cupertino Electric to Advance Electric Infrastructure Solutions for Large-Scale Data Centers

July 22, 2024
Quanta Services stands to gain significant revenue through its acquisition of Cupertino Electric, which has installed electrical systems in more than 20 million square feet of data centers
Grid infrastructure construction giant Quanta Services Inc. has acquired a company known for its electrical system installations at data centers.
 
Last week Quanta completed its acquisition of San Jose, California-based Cupertino Electric Inc. (CEI). The latter, founded in 1954, has grown to become the sixth largest electrical solutions provider in the nation with more than 4,000 employees, according to reports.
 
Among the many CEI projects is the manufacturing of modular electrical systems for large-scale data centers. CEI has installed electrical systems in more than 20 million square feet of data centers, according to the Quanta news release about the deal.
 
The exponential growth of cloud-based computing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies creates a vast future growth path for electricity infrastructure and microgrid providers. The financial firm Goldman Sachs has forecasted that close to 47 GW of new data center capacity will be constructed by the end of this decade. 
 
“CEI brings an exceptional management team and a premier craft-skilled workforce that complements Quanta’s culture and will create a comprehensive electrical infrastructure solutions offering that we believe can facilitate innovative solutions between utilities and large power consumers—from electron generation to transmission to consumption,” Quanta CEO Duke Austin said in a statement. 
 
Cupertino Electric’s projects include the 252-MW Proxima solar farm in California, the San Francisco International Airport’s Terminal 1 Boarding Area B, and Copper Mountain Solar 3 in Nevada. 
 
Quanta Services, already one of the largest electrical infrastructure engineering and construction firms financially, stands to gain significant revenue with the Cupertino Electric deal. The financial expectation is that CEI will add up to $2.425 billion in revenues for the full year of 2025, according to the release.
 
On Quanta’s part, the transaction was totaled at close to $1.54 billion, including $1.3 billion cash and approximately 883,000 shares of Quanta common stock.
About the Author

Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.