Roll over, California — here comes One Energy

FINDLAY --- Move over, California. Findlay-based One Energy Enterprises is pioneering high-volume power for emerging industries, like electric semi charging, but without government mandates and subsidies. The company, which started as a wind turbine builder, is expanding into new frontiers offering power to emerging industries like digital currency mining and indoor farming. It recently unveiled its Findlay Megawatt Hub, a 30-megawatt site which is expandable to 150MW, Chief Executive Officer Jereme Kent said. Powered by the first fully digital, transmission-voltage substation in the United States, the Megawatt Hub is a breakthrough for emerging industries stifled by lack of access to high volumes of power, he said. The hub and substation are located on One Energy's campus north of Findlay. It far surpasses anything else in California or the rest of the nation, Kent said. "The biggest thing we're aware of being contemplated in California is around 12 megawatts," he said. "That's talking about what they hope to get to. We've already built 30 megawatts here. "Everybody's talking about the conversation in California about electric charging with all of the mandates and the subsidies. The reality is without mandates and without subsidies we can build cost effective electric semi charging in Ohio and the rest of the Midwest," Kent said. "There's a whole lot of trucking that happens here and a whole lot more than there is in California. "We're trying to make sure it's a broader national conversation that doesn't say this only works in California with a bunch of incentives, because that's not true," he said. The company reports that it will use a "Power Island" to configure electric semi-truck charging infrastructure to concurrently support multiple corporate trucking fleet operators. Trailblazing comes with an added burden: educating potential investors, customers and the general public about the value of what you are offering. "It is a blessing and a curse that we are a first mover in this space because the result is, there's a much higher education on us," Kent said. "But we hope in the long run that that education pays off as we become a public company and people become excited about what we're doing." A new merger One Energy is expected to get a $300 million infusion of cash for growth opportunities in a pending merger with an investment group. One Energy and TortoiseEcofin Acquisition Corp. III have agreed to merge, pending approvals by the Securities and Exchange Commission and shareholders. The approvals could take up to four months. One Energy will bring its business model and industry expertise and TortoiseEcofin will bring its $300 million to form a new public company: One Power Co., to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "ONEP." "Throughout our entire going public process our job is to educate the market and current and future stockholders," Kent said. "So that's why we're making sure that we're putting all of the elements of our business out to the market and doing our best to explain them." One Energy operates throughout Ohio, including wind turbines it built and which supply electricity to Whirlpool Corp., Ball Corp. and Valfilm in Findlay. One Energy has become the nation's largest installer and operator of wind-generated electricity directly supplied to customers from outside the grid. It has about 65 employees. With the cash injection from TortoiseEcofin, it will be poised to expand into other states. Kent declined to say how many employees would be added as a result of the growth. "Our plan is to continue to execute on what has been a successful business plan of installing power systems, including wind turbines for large factories throughout the heartland," he said. "This (investment by TortoiseEcofin) is just meant to accelerate the pace we can grow to do that."