Orion Adds Electric Vehicle Charging Station Solutions Via Voltrek Acquisition

MANITOWOC, Wis. and BOSTON, Oct. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orion Energy Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: OESX) (Orion Lighting), a provider of energy-efficient LED lighting, controls and electrical installation and maintenance services announced today its expansion into the electric vehicle (EV) charging station market through the acquisition of Voltrek, LLC. Voltrek had 2021 revenue of $4.8M primarily from projects in New England. Orion will host an investor call today at 4:15 pm ET to discuss the acquisition. Call details are below.

Voltrek provides turnkey EV charging solutions and ongoing support to all commercial verticals, working as a value-added resale partner to leading Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment and Electric Vehicle Service Providers, offering turnkey solutions from planning and installation to maintenance and management services. Voltrek will operate with its existing employees as an independent brand within Orion.

Core Voltrek Value Drivers:

• 3,500+ charging ports under management and growing.
• Voltrek is a nationally ranked top-tier value-added reseller (VAR) with an industry standard-setting service model.
• National Grid Utility Make-Ready Program lead installer.
• Eversource Utility Make-Ready Program installer.

The acquisition positions Orion in the fast-expanding EV charging infrastructure market. BloombergNEF estimates global passenger EV sales will rise from 6.6M units in 2021 to an estimated 20.6M units in 2025 (approximately 23% of global new vehicle sales), driving substantial demand for EV charging infrastructure. Approximately $5B in state and federal programs have been developed to incentivize consumer adoption and support the buildout of EV charging infrastructure over the next five years through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Orion COO, Mike Jenkins, commented, “Voltrek’s turnkey EV charging solutions are an ideal fit for Orion’s national accounts and our partner network as they directly address a growing need expressed by our customers and fit well with our core areas of expertise. Charging stations are an increasingly important part of a high-quality retail experience, as well as an important amenity for employees and visitors. We see substantial cross-selling potential between our LED lighting and electrical maintenance solutions and EV charging and believe Voltrek places Orion in the forefront of this opportunity.”

Kathleen Connors, an established EV charging industry leader who will continue to lead Voltrek as its President, stated, “As a top-ranked ChargePoint EV charging station VAR and service provider, Voltrek is uniquely positioned to leverage our expertise in facilitating the conversion to electric mobility. We expect the added support of Orion’s customer reach, large partner network, financial resources, and its growing Maintenance Service Group will support our continued growth.”

To learn more about Voltrek, visit their website at www.voltrek.com.

Webcast/Call Details

Event Title: Orion Investor Call

Event Date/Time: Thursday, October 6^th at 4:15pm ET

Webcast URL: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/zeehucmu

Public Participant Registration Form: https://register.vevent.com/register/BIc802aa09ee384327bfbe16801a09e374 Participants for the live call must pre-register using the URL above to receive the dial-in number and a unique PIN to access the call. If you lose your PIN or the dial-in (and the back-up email), simply re-register for a new PIN.

About Orion Energy Systems

Orion provides innovative LED lighting systems and turnkey project implementation including installation and commissioning of fixtures, controls and IoT systems, as well as ongoing system maintenance and program management. We help our customers achieve energy savings with healthy, safe, and sustainable solutions, enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint and digitize their business. To learn more about Orion Energy Systems, visit www.orionlighting.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain matters discussed in this press release are “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may generally be identified as such because the context of such statements will include words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe our future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those expected, including, but not limited to, the following: (i) our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Voltrek acquisition; (ii) we may encounter substantial difficulties, costs and delays involved in integrating our operations with Voltrek’s business; (iii) disruption of management’s attention from ongoing business operations due to the Voltrek acquisition; (iv) our ability to manage general economic, business and geopolitical conditions, including the impacts of natural disasters, pandemics and outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; (v) the deterioration of market conditions, including our dependence on customers’ capital budgets for sales of products and services, and adverse impacts on costs and the demand for our products as a result of factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of tariffs; (vi) our ability to adapt and respond to supply chain challenges, especially related to shipping and logistics issues, component availability, rising input costs, and a tight labor market; (vii) our ability to recruit, hire and retain talented individuals in all disciplines of our company; (viii) our ability to successfully launch, manage and maintain our refocused business strategy to successfully bring to market new and innovative product and service offerings; (ix) our recent and continued reliance on significant revenue to be generated in fiscal 2023 from the lighting and controls retrofit projects for two major global logistics companies; (x) our dependence on a limited number of key customers, and the potential consequences of the loss of one or more key customers or suppliers, including key contacts at such customers; (xi) our ability to identify and successfully complete transactions with suitable acquisition candidates in the future as part of our growth strategy; (ix) the availability of additional debt financing and/or equity capital to pursue our evolving strategy and sustain our growth initiatives; (xii) our risk of potential loss related to single or focused exposure within the current customer base and product offerings; (xiii) our ability to sustain our profitability and positive cash flows; (xiv) our ability to differentiate our products in a highly competitive and converging market, expand our customer base and gain market share; (xv) our ability to manage and mitigate downward pressure on the average selling prices of our products as a result of competitive pressures in the light emitting diode (“LED”) market; (xvi) our ability to manage our inventory and avoid inventory obsolescence in a rapidly evolving LED market; (xv) our increasing reliance on third parties for the manufacture and development of products, product components, as well as the provision of certain services; (xviii) our increasing emphasis on selling more of our products through third party distributors and sales agents, including our ability to attract and retain effective third party distributors and sales agents to execute our sales model; (xviii) our ability to develop and participate in new product and technology offerings or applications in a cost effective and timely manner; (xix) our ability to maintain safe and secure information technology systems; (xx) our failure to comply with the covenants in our credit agreement; (xxi) our ability to balance customer demand and production capacity; (xxii) our ability to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting; (xxiii) price fluctuations (including as a result of tariffs), shortages or interruptions of component supplies and raw materials used to manufacture our products; (xxiv) our ability to defend our patent portfolio and license technology from third parties; (xxv) a reduction in the price of electricity; (xxvi) the reduction or elimination of investments in, or incentives to adopt, LED lighting or the elimination of, or changes in, policies, incentives or rebates in certain states or countries that encourage the use of LEDs over some traditional lighting technologies; (xxvii) the cost to comply with, and the effects of, any current and future industry and government regulations, laws and policies; (xxviii) potential warranty claims in excess of our reserve estimates; and (xxix) the other risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this press release and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov or at http://investor.oriones.com/ in the Investor Relations section of our Website.

Orion Contact
Steve Paulus, Director Marketing & Communications
Orion Energy Systems, Inc.
spaulus@oesx.com
(920) 239-8007

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