Opterra Energy Services has closed its acquisition of Noresco from Carrier Global Corp., bringing together a business focused on higher education campuses and the federal government with Opterra’s broader work in energy and infrastructure projects.
Noresco, based in Massachusetts, specializes in energy service solutions for government and higher education customers. Opterra, a subsidiary of LS Power, said the deal combines the expertise of 750 energy professionals and positions the merged company to serve educational institutions, local government, commercial and industrial organizations, and federal facilities facing energy, water, and infrastructure demands.
The acquisition comes as organizations increase their use of microgrids, distributed energy resources, battery storage, and advanced energy management systems, according to Opterra. The combined business will focus on customers seeking infrastructure modernization, energy resiliency, renewable energy, water conservation, and related services. Opterra CEO Courtney Jenkins said in a statement:
"Rising use of microgrids, distributed energy resources, battery storage and advanced energy management systems have increased organizations’ need for infrastructure modernization projects."
Opterra said the two companies together have contracts servicing 19,000 facilities, including 880 megawatts of installed distributed generation and $8 billion in customer energy savings. It also said the combined company plans to offer expanded technical assistance, including sustainability consulting, across a broader geographic area.
Noresco has recently worked on large public-sector projects. In March, the company worked on the $104-million upgrade of the FBI Quantico complex in Virginia, including upgrades to a chiller plant and on-site backup power generation. Last August, it won a $100 million upgrade contract for the Detroit Great Lakes Water Authority covering resilience improvements and equipment rehabilitation. Noresco President and CEO Troy Walters commented on joining Opterra:
"This change enables us to deliver greater value for our customers and expand our market presence. By bringing together NORESCO and OPTERRA, we are expanding our ability to address complex energy and infrastructure challenges with integrated solutions, additional resources, and broader capabilities."
Carrier said when it announced the deal last week that the sale of Noresco would allow it to concentrate on its HVAC and refrigeration operations. "Portfolio simplification [allows] us to remain laser-focused on growth and innovation within our core businesses", said Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin. Carrier recently purchased 75F, an AI-enabled building management system, which I covered in field service news yesterday.
