
Photo courtesy of Prysmian
Italian company Prysmian has broken ground on a $500 million expansion project at the Encore Wire copper wire and cable manufacturing plant in McKinney, Texas.
Prysmian, which acquired recycled-content wire producer Encore last year, is building a new 650,000-square-foot building in McKinney in an effort to support "growing electrification demand” and anticipated United States power grid needs.
The global wire maker credits Encore for an “outstanding service model,” saying its acquisition of the U.S. company gives it the prospect of serving customers with the quality and speed that is essential to unlock major energy priorities, ranging from data centers, the U.S. industry and "the strengthening of our power grid.”
The project entails building what Prysmian says is a state-of-the-art medium voltage cable production facility, expected to come online in 2027.
Encore Wire operates a scrap purchase program through which it collects scrap insulated wire and bare copper from new and existing customers that is directed toward wire chopping production lines it operates.
In its 2024 environmental, social and governance (ESG) report, Prysmian says globally it used 16.2 percent recycled-content copper and polyethylene plastic in the production of its wire and cable last year.
In an Encore Wire standalone ESG report covering 2023, the company says of its material recovery and procurement of recycled materials, its copper wire was made of approximately 28 percent recycled copper in 2023.
Encore Wire started in 1989 in a 68,000-square-foot warehouse building in McKinney. Over the past 35 years, it has grown to fill some 3.5 million square feet of production, warehouse and office space.
“This new plant will be one of the largest standalone facilities on our campus, which is the largest vertically integrated cable factory on the planet and is a major milestone in Prysmian/Encore Wire growth,” Prysmian North America CEO Andrea Pirondini says.
Regional government and economic development officials took part in the groundbreaking ceremony in McKinney, including CEO Michael Kowski from the McKinney Economic Development Corp.
“Building on Encore Wire’s successes, Prysmian’s investment in McKinney will be significant to this community in so many different ways,” Kowski says. “We’re proud to help bring new opportunities to our citizens and continue to showcase McKinney as fertile ground for business growth and expansion.”
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