Maine solar firms join forces to meet regulatory, workforce challenges
Photos/Courtesy Insource Renewables and Tim Greenway, for Mainebiz
Insource Renewables CEO Vaughan Woodruff, left, and Fortunat Mueller, president and co-founder of ReVision Energy, have been collaborating for years and started talking about joining forces last November.
Two Maine solar energy companies have joined forces to "meet surging demand for zero-emission solutions" and tackle regulatory and workforce challenges amid a growing number of competitors.
The companies, Montville-based ReVision Energy, and InSource Renewables, a smaller business based in Pittsifled, announced a merger agreement over the weekend they're already starting to implement. Terms were not disclosed.
ReVision Energy, structured under an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, is owned by its 280 employees. InSource Renewables employs 16 people, of whom six are owners through a cooperative arrangement that typically involves a longer path to employee ownership.
It remains to be seen how many owners and employees of InSource Renewables will join ReVision Energy through the combination, InSource CEO Vaughan Woodruff told Mainebiz by phone on Tuesday morning.
Both companies are certified B Corps, an international designation showing they meet standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
'Natural fit'
The combination comes after years of friendship and collaboration between the companies' leaders, and as ReVision Energy looks to fill several job openings in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
"Vaughan and I have been friends and have been collaborating on industry issues and policy for many years, and we have also occasionally just chatted as peers to talk shop and share experiences," Fortunat Mueller, co-founder and president of Revision Energy, told Mainebiz.
"It's a resource and a source of support that I've always valued and appreciated, and even more so through the last year as each of our companies made adjustments to adapt to the challenges of operating in a pandemic."
Last November when Woodruff raised the idea of combining as one company we were instantly intrigued and excited by the possibilities," Mueller said.
"We've spent the last few months making sure it's a good fit and working so that we can truly accomplish a merger where one plus one equals something more than two, to take excellent care of both Insource and ReVision team and customers, and advance our shared mission for Maine," he added.
Woodruff echoed that sentiment, saying, "I am thrilled to extend the decade-long collaboration that we've had with Fortunat and his co-owners from the policy realm into the marketplace. Our companies' shared values make this a natural fit."
Workforce development
Woodruff, a former instructor and technical consultant for several prominent national solar workforce initiatives, will be charged with leading and expanding the ReVision Energy Training Center.
ReVision Energy operates out of five so-called decarbonization facilities, including Montville and South Portland. Outside of Maine, the company has facilities in Enfield and Brentwood, N.H., and North Andover, Mass. It set up the training center in 2018 as the first state-certified training program that streamlines the lengthy process of helping individuals become an apprentice, journeyman and licensed electricians. The company has installed more than 10,000 clean energy systems in northern New England since 2003.
Under Woodruff's leadership, the plan is to expand the center to incorporate training in other technical aspects of the industry, leadership development and business development.
“As Maine transitions more and more toward renewable energy," Mueller told Mainebiz in a December interview, "we see this program as a critical way to keep attracting, retaining and training the smartest and most dedicated co-owners to join our effort.”
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