Shaun Lenz and Ronnie Schaeffer are business partners that met in 2013 and started Premier Energy Controls, based out of Rigby, Idaho in 2016. They predominantly install and service energy management systems in large campus applications, with a focus on higher education as well as commercial and industrial facilities. Lenz says he expects they’ll be expanding into the municipal and healthcare markets in the near future as well. In addition to Idaho, their service area also includes Montana, Wyoming, and Utah.
Lenz has been in the controls business since 1994, primarily with Johnson Controls, however, he also has a working knowledge of several other control systems such as Alerton, Honeywell, and Siemens. Lenz is a certified Alerton engineer and both Lenz and Schaeffer are Reliable engineers.
Lenz has 25 years of experience with pneumatic controls and refrigeration controls. In 2000, he decided to go into business for himself, realizing he could service customers much better as an independent contractor rather than working for a single manufacturer.
Lenz met Schaeffer while working for the Ready Services Oil & Gas Company. Schaeffer was working as an electrician for Exxon Oil at the time when they saw an opportunity to partner by opening a new controls business.
It was their shared drive to better serve customers and an opportunity to integrate with third-party systems that led them to Computrols. According to Lenz, “One of the major controls players in the region recently – in the words of one of their customers – ‘left them high & dry’. In many cases, they have multiple systems across several sites and locations. To help these facility managers, we needed a solution that was an alternative to the expensive ‘rip & replace’ option. These customers felt trapped between dealing with obsolete systems with limited support and huge replacement costs. Computrols not only gives these customers an immediate solution but also a migration path moving forward.”
Lenz had previously researched Computrols while with one of his former companies but was not in a position to make the jump at that time. Now that he is in the driver’s seat, Lenz is very excited about the opportunities that Computrols brings to the table for his customers.
Lenz continues, “I have been working with my customers in this region for over 20 years. I’ve heard many of their frustrations with their systems and the level of service they receive from the respective manufacturers. I see Computrols as a ‘Skeleton Key’ that can unlock the potential of these systems and communicate to all of them in a way no other system or platform can. What Computrols will enable us to do for our customers will give them control, peace of mind, and the satisfaction they have been looking for. We are so excited to get started, we can hardly wait! Finally, we have the solution to all of our customers’ woes.”
The ability to integrate with third-party legacy systems was certainly high up on the list of features that Premier Energy Controls was looking for, but there were a few other benefits that made partnering with Computrols an easy decision. Lenz sees all parent-level controller points being universal as a huge advantage to cutting down the time it takes to engineer new projects and the lifetime warranty as an industry gamechanger. The simple user interface in CBAS also made his list of key advantages, citing that the ability for his customers to operate their own system will be a breath of fresh air.
Lenz is looking forward to demonstrating Computrols Building Automation System to his local mechanical contractors and getting the product specified in his area. He also sees access control as a new and exciting potential growth area for Premier Energy Controls and acknowledges that it can often open doors with new customers. With a third partner coming into the business whose experience and background is in high-level sales, the future looks very exciting for this new partnership.
Mike Clayton, Computrols Manager of Strategic Partnerships, had this to say, “We are very happy and excited to be partnering with Premier Energy Controls in Idaho. It’s a new region for us and the growth potential outlined by Shaun is huge! We can’t wait to get them up to speed so they can start servicing their customers with our product.”
