Page 130 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

CORE VALUE: INTEGRITY
PULLING OFF THE IMPOSSIBLE (JULY 2018)
There shouldn’t have been a problem. Everything was going just fine. Until it wasn’t. Peterson’s Mission Critical Team had already delivered six out of fourteen generators promised to its customer in north- ern Oregon—their largest data center customer, arguably the largest in the world. They had another three weeks to start delivery on the rest. But then came the phone call.
John Krummen in 2020 at a cogeneration plant in Santa Clara, California
“You’ve got to be kidding!” John Krummen scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to absorb the news. One of their generator packages was ready to ship but was locked up, instead, behind a gate with an armed guard. According to his project manager on the call, the guard’s exact words were: ‘No way are you getting any of your units out!’ The bank- ruptcy sign on the fence behind him was the final word.
“I don’t care if we have to take down the whole damn gate,” Krum- men said into the phone. “It’s our unit. Just go pick it up.”
Krummen hung up and sat there trying to decide what to do next. He’d been the executive vice president and general manager of Peter- son Power Systems since 2012. This was a first.
A couple days later, he was on a plane headed for Houston along with an attorney. “It happened so fast my wife had to meet me at the airport with a change of clothes,” recalls Krummen. They landed at one a.m. and arrived at the courthouse early the next morning at eight o’clock sharp. “I spoke to a couple of other attorneys there about our chances of getting a release to pick up our units. They said zero. That’s just not how it works.”
Krummen ended up with a pro-industry judge who started off by asking what outcome he was looking for. “Your Honor, we have a data center for Tigris6 ...,” began Krummen.
6 Tigris is a made-up name for one of Peterson’s largest data center customers who cannot be named because of strict non-disclosure agreement protections.
128 | PETERSON: 85 YEARS AND GOING STRONG