WEST KINGSTON – There is good news and bad news at APC by Schneider Electric, the South Kingstown-based backup-power supplier formerly known as American Power Conversion Corp.

The bad news is on the jobs front: APC recently laid off between 50 and 100 workers, blaming the cuts on the economic downturn. It is not clear how many of those job cuts came in Rhode Island.

Elizabeth deCastro, the company’s media relations manager, told PBN in an e-mail that the employees affected all were “in North America in positions across all functions of the business.” The reductions amounted to between 1.7 and 3.8 percent of APC’s roughly 2,600 North American employees.

“Market volatility, a global retraction in the economy, and the economic uncertainty that lies ahead have all contributed to the decision to reduce our workforce in North America,” deCastro said in a statement. “While this was a difficult decision to make, we have the responsibility to ensure our organization is well positioned for success in our industry.”

She added: “We have been and will continue to remain focused on streamlining our business to remain competitive in the market, well-positioned to drive future growth.” APC was bought last year by Schneider Electric (Paris: SU.PA), which in May announced plans to spend $3 million to $4 million to renovate its South Kingstown facility. (READ MORE)

The good news is on the technology front: APC supplied some of the technology for the SuperNAP, a mammoth data center that opened this fall in the Las Vegas desert.

Switch Communications Group, which built the 407,000-square-foot SuperNAP, describes it as the most high-density and energy-efficient data center in the world. The facility will be used as a data-storage system for many of the world’s largest companies.

“The SuperNAP has capacity for 250 megawatts of power, 4.5 million cubic feet per minute of cooling, and an average of 1,500 watts per square foot, with nearly 7,000 high-density cabinets,” Switch Communications says it its official description.

The data center features 60 of APC’s Symmetra MW II uninterruptible power system (UPS). And, at full build, “will house more than 7,000 APC NetShelter SX racks and thousands of APC rack-mounted power distribution units (PDUs) that enable increased management and efficiency across the data center,” APC said in a statement.

“We are always pleased to tell our customers that we utilize technology from APC – as well as other Schneider Electric companies – as the APC brand is synonymous with reliability and efficiency,” Rob Roy, CEO of Switch Communications, said in a statement.

APC by Schneider Electric is a member – together with MGE UPS Systems – of the $3.5 billion Critical Power & Cooling Services (CPCS) business unit of Rueil-Malmaison, France-based Schneider Electric (Paris: SU.PA). For more information, visit www.apc.com. For information about the Switch Communications Group and its SuperNAP data center, visit www.switchNAP.com.