Power management company Eaton is investing $500 million to grow its North American manufacturing capacity.
The investment will expand production for the company's utility, commercial, healthcare, industrial and residential markets. Most investments will be completed in 2024 and 2025, the company said in its announcement Monday.
Eaton's plans include expanding multiple manufacturing facilities, including in Texas, Wisconsin and South Carolina, as well as distribution centers in Chicago and Dallas.
“Electrical infrastructure has to work harder and smarter to accelerate decarbonization and electrification,” Mike Yelton, president, Americas region, electrical sector at Eaton, said in a statement. “We’re making steady investments for our customers, distributors and employees to meet growing demand in the Americas, and there will be more to come.”
The company is doubling the size of its Nacogdoches, Texas manufacturing facility with a 200,000 square foot addition, giving it twice the production capacity for voltage regulators, a power unit component.The regulators are used by utility customers to modernize grids.
Eaton will also continue producing multiple types of transformers at the Texas site, looking to address an ongoing shortage of the electrical grid product.
In Wisconsin, the company is expanding its largest facility in Waukesha, where it’s increasing production capacity for three-phase transformers for utility, data center, commercial and industrial use.
And in South Carolina, the company will increase production of components for cable buses, called busways, to meet growing demand. Eaton has a well-defined presence in the state, where it operates in multiple locations, including a site in Greenwood that it expanded in 2020.
Eaton is also investing in distribution capacity to support its increased manufacturing power. The company recently opened its largest regional distribution center in Chicago and is expanding its Dallas facility
