American Energy Partners Inc. installed energy-efficient lighting at Del Monte Aviation in Monterey, CA.

Robert Finn, Owner and President, stands by the controller for the variable-frequency drive installed by American Energy Partners Inc. at Monterey Bay Endoscopy Center.

What began as an electrical contracting company soon grew into something much more for American Energy Partners Inc., Robert Finn, Owner and President, quickly realized the potential for providing energy-saving technology and more for commercial customers.

“A light went off in my head (pun intended),” Finn says, as he recognized opportunity in adding other services to the company’s offerings. Adopting specialties in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration, American Energy Partners could initiate other add-on services where they were hired to change out lighting, for example. “We could say, ‘There’s an incentive program for improving air conditioning efficiency, and also we can help with all these refrigerated coolers and storage.’ ”

American Energy Partners, based in Monterey, California, focuses on providing energy-efficient technology for commercial, industrial and retail clients. The firm provides electrical, HVAC, plumbing, refrigeration, compressed air and solar services. “We found that once someone wanted to save in one trade, if we introduced them to services from other trades, they got that, too,” Finn says.

Wall Street Skills Translate to New Venture

The energy solutions service is a new career for Finn, who founded the company in 2012. He worked for more than 30 years on Wall Street as an institutional bond trader, comfortable talking with top corporate executives and handling large amounts of money. The work also required attention to customer service and detail. He retired in 2011 but after a few months began looking for a second career. While helping an LED lighting manufacturer find funding, he did due diligence and was impressed by the gains in energy efficiency. That’s when he decided to start an electrical contracting firm focusing on commercial energy savings.

American Energy Partners is a member of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Trade Professional Alliance, a listing of contractors and distributors who promote and provide energy- efficient products and services. These member companies receive referrals from PG&E and process documentation to make sure that their customers receive all available incentives. “It’s in PG&E’s interest to get people to reduce energy use,” Finn explains.

As time went on, Finn realized that the way to sell customers on energy upgrades was to show them how much money they could save. American Energy Partners develops a spreadsheet for each client showing the amount of money they will save once the energy-saving technology is installed. “They have a finite willingness to take on spending, but an infinite capacity for saving money,” Finn says.

Variety of Trade Services

After advertising in The Blue Book Network®, Finn found that most of his inquiries came from general contractors who appreciated that his company could subcontract for work in multiple trades. For example, when American Energy Partners was hired to work on The Lodge at Pebble Beach, his firm removed and replaced all air handlers in the main restaurant, provided and installed new ductwork for the main furnace, changed all lighting to LED in common areas and rooms, and replaced the air conditioning system in the laundry. At the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, American Energy Partners served as the lead electrical contractor for remodel of the space, helping to choose LED lighting and to prepare the bid package, while working with Team San Jose attorneys and answering subcontractors’ questions.

Another major project was done for Dole Fresh Vegetables in Soledad, where American Energy Partners did a retrofit of all refrigeration compressors, including ducting outside air to the compressors’ inlets, installing floating head pressure control to the ammonia refrigeration system, installing sequencers to the air compressors and retrofitting low-temperature compressors with variable frequency drives (VFDs).

VFDs are a technology with many uses, including on the fan in an air conditioning system or commercial kitchen range hoods, Finn explains. The addition saves money by allowing the motor to run at a variety of speeds, rather than top speed all the time. A sensor determines which speed is needed, saving wear and tear on the motor as well as energy.

From Shopping Malls to Museums

The company’s customers range from hospitals to shopping malls, from post office buildings to libraries and museums. American Energy Partners replaced flood lighting with LED lighting at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California, retrofitted underground garage and store lighting at Carmel Plaza and changed out lighting and retrofitted rooftop air conditioning units for Monterey Bay Endoscopy Center.

In addition to helping customers receive incentives on energy-saving equipment, the company can assist clients in securing interest-free loans from their utilities in California, Arizona and Hawaii, Finn says. After ascertaining the energy savings figures, the utility will lend the company 100 percent of the cost of the equipment and labor. The loan is paid back through the utility bill. For example, say an energy efficient technology project costs $20,000 but will save the customer $1,000 per month on their utility bill. The utility makes the loan, and the customer continues to pay their same utility bill amount for 20 months. At that point, the loan is paid off, the customer’s monthly bill is reduced by $1,000, and they get the savings going forward, Finn says.

American Energy Partners’ solar program assists customers with setting up a microgrid of backup batteries to provide power in case of a grid shutdown, as well as solar panels for day-to-day energy needs, Finn explains. These improvements can qualify for a federal tax credit as well.

General contractors are often too busy to help their customers with researching energy incentives and loans, so that is a value that American Energy Partners can offer them, Finn says. Other values that set the company apart are its experience in many trades, the comfort in working on high-dollar projects and their knowledge of energy- efficient equipment.

The company works in California, with offices in Monterey, Pleasanton, Sacramento and San Luis Obispo, as well as in Arizona and Hawaii.

After focusing only on commercial work, American Energy Partners was asked to do work on the residence of a commercial customer. The company then began doing some residential work and is now listed with HomeAdvisor in its service area, Finn says.

Employee Team Handles Sales, Installation, Marketing The company has 25 employees, including 10 outside salespeople, five installers and a marketing group that helps with loan applications and incentives. “We have people who have been with us from the beginning,” Finn says. “They like the family atmosphere.”

American Energy Partners has been considered an essential business during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not shut down. “We have to get in there when the AC goes out in the pizza restaurant,” Finn explains. “We are very careful.”

Going forward, the company is constantly adding new services. Recently, the firm became an installer for Amazon’s Key for Business, a technology that allows Amazon delivery people access to gated communities or apartment buildings through a phone app. The Key for Business is free to the multifamily and gated community customer, but American Energy Partners is paid to install it.

Another new product is a COVID-19 killing pathogen elimination system that can be installed in a home or business. One version is a device that goes into ductwork; another is a portable device that is sized for whatever space is needed, Finn says. “This is going to be huge.”

In any event, what American Energy Partners provides overall is a service, Finn says. “The physical work is a byproduct of the service. We analyze what is inefficient and come up with a solution. There are no classes for this."

“We are giving savings, efficiency, health and safety for the community.”