History

Readers,

Here is an article that was provided to me by a reader. It discusses some of Joe Merlo's history in the business:

Burton, Peter. "Checking vendor stability seen crucial in EMS buy. " Energy User News. 9 (Feb 20, 1984): 1(3). Academic OneFile. Gale. Public Library (CELPLO). 3 Nov. 2008 find.galegroup.com/itx/

Abstract: As an industry shakeout occurs among EMS suppliers, buyers of energy management systems are urged to scrutinize the stability of vendors. Customers should look at the vendor's financial statements or annual report, credit reports from service firms, and trade-payment reports to determine the firm's total sales, assets, liabilities, and profit or loss. Assets ratio should be 1.5 the size of liabilities.

Full Text:COPYRIGHT Chilton Company 1984

MEC Folds After Furor; Owners Form 2 New Firms

The owners of Multi Energy Concepts (MEC), an energy management firm that recently came under fire from a number of its customers, have dissolved the firm and formed two separate companies under new names. One of the former principals, Joseph Merlo, said his new company, Energy Automation Systems Inc., Hauppauge, N.Y., will assume no warranties or liabilities of MEC. The other principal, Phillip DeRosa, said his new firm, Diversified Energy Controls, will honor all warranties and service obligations, but he claimed to have no records of former customers. "We had 30 to 50 salesmen--I just don't know where the files are,' said DeRosa. While both Merlo and DeRosa say that the new companies have no link to MEC, the two men were the owners of MEC, and the president and vice president, respectively. The two new companies also sell the same basic equipment and service as MEC had offered. Further, Energy Automation Systems is using sales literature nearly identical to MEC's, and Diversified is located at EMC's old address in Syosett, N.Y. The dissolution of MEC closely followed a story in Energy User News detailing a number of user complaints about unfulfilled savings promises, careless installations, and slow service. (See Aug. 30, 1982, EUN, page 1.) MEC operated by reviewing a prospective firm's electricity bills, then projecting savings-- typically 20 percent. Then the company would install a package of equipment that generally included power factor controls, small energy management systems, and fluorescent lighting controls. The cost would be based on the users' electricity costs--usually four or five times his monthly bill --rather than on the type and amount of equipment installed. In October, the principals dissolved the company and the Suffolk County, N.Y., Supreme Court appointed a receiver--a type of trustee--to resolve any outstanding business affairs, a Diversified Energy spokesman said. However, four customers of MEC told EUN that as of last week they had received no notification of the company's dissolution. One said he has tried unsuccessfully to contact the company since November to get information on a load-shedding device that MEC installed at his plant. According to Joseph Merlo, former president of MEC, former customers will be contacted within a month, notifying them of the dissolution and advising them how service can be obtained. All equipment warranties will be honored by the manufacturers, Merlo said, but any warranties issued by MEC are void. "If customers want service, they'll have to contract someone from outside,' he said. However, DeRosa said his firm would honor any outstanding MEC warranties at no cost. Because he has no records of who the customers were, he said, he invites any MEC customers needing service to contact Diversified Energy Controls in Syosset, N.Y. Warranties for some of the MEC equipment will be honored by the original equipment manufacturers. Mac Victor Mfg. Co., Concord, N.C., manufactured the MEC energy management systems, and will honor all warranties, according to Dean Pfliger, Mac Victor's director of marketing. MEC's Phase Liner power factor controllers will remain under warranty through its original equipment manufacturer, Queen Electric Co., Fort Worth, Tex., a Queen spokeswoman said. Service problems occuring outside the warranty period can be handled by these manufacturers for a service fee, both sources said. MEC itself manufactured the FLC II, a fluorescent light controller, and the warranty for these systems was carried by MEC. Temporarily, neither Diversified nor Energy Automation Systems is selling this product due to legal problems between the two new companies.

Gale Document Number:A2595767© 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning.