Over my more than four decades of research into the electric power industry, I have encountered a number of U.S. locations that have distinguished themselves as important centers for the manufacture of equipment and components essential to the nation’s electrical grid. Two regions, in particular, stand out: the greater Raleigh region of North Carolina, and the Chicago-land area of Illinois.
The greater Raleigh-Carey area has served as the US headquarters or as a strong regional home to a number of major global electrical equipment manufacturers, including ABB, Eaton, Hitachi Energy, Schneider Electric, and Siemens Energy.
The Chicago area has historically been home to several major transmission and distribution equipment manufacturers with significant positions in their respective domestic markets. Among them are S&C Electric, G&W Electric, Littelfuse, E O Schweitzer (now SEL-owned), and, until approximately 2017, Chicago served as the headquarters for MacLean Power Systems (MPS). If we add in the Schaumburg-based Motorola Corporation, a major participant in the market for grid-related telecommunications and SCADA systems, the total value of these Chicago-area companies to grid modernization efforts is in the multiple billions of dollars.
The Chicago area concentration of electrical equipment manufacturers provides useful context for taking a closer look at a company that does not always receive the same level of attention as some of the larger and better-known names in the electrical equipment industry: MacLean Power Systems. I think that is about to change.
An Expanding Grid Infrastructure Platform
MPS has established a broad position in the supply of engineered products and solutions used in transmission, distribution, and substation infrastructure. The company’s product portfolio includes a variety of switches and switchgear, pole-line and conductor hardware, insulators, surge arresters, connectors, anchors, instrument transformers, crossarms, and other critical grid components.
The company has been particularly prominent in several product categories reported on by Newton-Evans Research in its own market overview reports, including insulators and surge arresters, and also maintains a substantial presence in other components required throughout the electric power delivery system.
What makes MPS especially noteworthy today, however, is not simply its existing “traditional” product portfolio. MPS is going rapidly expanding through a series of strategic acquisitions that are substantially broadening both its geographic reach and the range of grid equipment on offer.
The most significant recent development was the March 2026 completion of the merger between MPS and Power Grid Components (PGC). The combined organization retained the MacLean Power Systems name, with Steve Scharnhorst continuing as chief executive officer and Mike Plaster, formerly CEO of PGC, becoming president.
The merger brought together two complementary portfolios of engineered T&D infrastructure products and added a number of established PGC brands to the MPS platform. Among those brands are ITEC, Newell Insulators, Meister International, Mid-Central Electric, Royal Switchgear, Allied Bolt Products, and Vizimax.
Following the merger of PGC into MPS, in July of this year, MPS announced a definitive agreement to acquire Indel Bauru, a Brazilian manufacturer of fuse links, terminal connectors, cables, and related accessories. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Bauru, Brazil, Indel serves utility customers in Brazil and other North and South American markets. The transaction was expected to close during the third quarter of 2026.
The newest expansion announcement from MPS is the planned closing on the acquisition of Delta Star Transformers during the fourth quarter of 2026. This acquisition will place MPS as a core producer of power transformers. As the domestic leader in the supply of mobile transformers, Delta Star provides the grid with emergency back-up power resiliency, while their small-to-medium-to-large power transformers address the severe lead-time bottlenecks currently plaguing U.S. utilities and slowing the pace of C&I expansion – especially for manufacturing reshoring and for data center build-outs.
Assessing the Impact of a Broader Basket of Grid Offerings from MPS
MPS’s recent spate of acquisitions has enabled the company to be positioned as a strong market participant in at least the following areas of grid modernization:
Substations and Switching: By virtue of its acquisition of Delta Star, along with Royal Switchgear, Vizimax and ITEC, the company will be able to pursue a broader portion of the multi-billion-dollar market for HV and MV substation equipment and substation automation.
Insulators and Surge Protection: Enabled by MPS’ business units that now include Newell, Meister and ITEC.
Foundational Grid Hardware: MPS traditional offerings now expanded to include Mid-Central Electric, Allied Bolt and Indel Bauru – the Brazilian firm that Newton-Evans’ surveys have uncovered as a small but growing participant in the North American market for fuse links and connectors.
Many of the business entities now included in the MPS basket of goods have been privately owned – with no public revenue reporting required. When evaluating the likely revenue opportunity for the first few years of the combined operation of all businesses under the MPS umbrella, I estimate potential MPS revenue could approach $1.5 Billion for fiscal year-end 2027 and growing to perhaps $2 Billion by 2029 or 2030.
- – Chuck Newton
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