RER Energy Group Once Again Named Second Fastest-Growing Company in the Greater Reading Area

“We would have loved to reach number one this year,” says RER President, Jim Kurtz. “Holding the number two spot for the second consecutive year, though, is evidence that the solar industry is becoming more mainstream as the smart choice for businesses seeking very low, long-term, renewable energy costs.”

Kurtz noted that approximately half of the company’s installations in 2016 were for returning clients who came back to expand existing systems or build new arrays on additional locations, expanding their adoption of solar as their long-term energy strategy. With the federal Solar Investment Tax Credit program scheduled to decline for projects not completed by the end of 2019, businesses from Reading and beyond have realized that now is the best time to add solar, or expand their investment into solar, for their business energy needs.

“Solar’s ‘all-in’ cost has fallen 70% over the last five years,” Kurtz says. “It now offers prices as low as $0.02-$0.04 per kilowatt hour, while incentives like tax credits and depreciation still cover approximately 60% of the installation cost. Once they understand the lost savings that come with waiting, businesses see that there’s no better time than right now to go solar.”

The Reading Chamber’s Award-Selection Process

Each year since 2006, the chamber’s Greater Reading Top Businesses Award has recognized the area’s top- performing companies. RER has been honored to be included in these lists for the past 6 years, initially as the top Entrepreneurial business and then in the larger company categories for the past four years. To qualify for this award, businesses must be chamber members with at least $1 million in revenue in each of the last three fiscal years to be eligible for consideration. Nominees are required to submit financial statements or company income tax returns, or, for publicly held companies, Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

The Top 50 rankings are compiled by KPMG, an accounting and financial services firm. The ranking method combines two measures of revenue growth—dollar and percentage increases—for each of the three years, with greater weight placed on the most recent year. Final rankings are based on revenue growth.