Industry News

The Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative Inc. (GVEC) is building a Lineman's Training Facility on 11 acres of company-owned land in Gonzales. The Texas Electric Cooperatives, an Austin trade association, has partnered with GVEC to share building costs. The facility, slated for completion in August, is GVEC's third Texas site where journeyman linemen can benefit from educational programs and safety training. The first training facility opened in Levelland in 2001; GVEC is now building a Northeast Texas training facility in Henderson.

The Lower Colorado River Authority is planning to upgrade the 30-year-old Dalchau Service Center. Located in Southeast Austin, the transmission services center currently houses 180 to 240 employees who maintain and build power transmission lines. The $43-million expansion project will remodel the center to accommodate current and future growth. Four separate facilities will be upgraded and converted into a single 260-desk facility, housing additional offices and a conference center.

Progress Energy is planning to lease over 450,000 sf in two new office towers to be developed in downtown Raleigh in order to consolidate operations currently scattered in 250,000 sf across Raleigh. The towers, which may rise as high as 18 to 20 stories each, will be located on a two-acre site adjacent to Progress's current 21-story, 250,000-sf office. Progress, providing only the land and the lease guarantee, has issued a request for proposals to 14 development companies and plans to make a selection in April 2002.

Oil refiner Valero Energy Corp. has contracted SpawGlass Contractors of San Antonio to build its new headquarters on the existing 148-acre Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. campus recently acquired by Valero.

Valero Energy Corp. has selected SpawGlass Contractors of San Antonio to build its new headquarters at the 148-acre campus of Ultramar Diamond Shamrock (UDS), recently acquired by Valero. The 200,000- to 300,000-sf office structure will consolidate Valero’s operations. Plans for the company’s existing two-building, 260,000-sf headquarters in North San Antonio are uncertain. Existing buildings at the UDS site include a headquarters (225,000 sf) and an annex (20,000 sf); both buildings, as well as the existing Valero headquarters, are full to capacity.