EduCon Energy was established in 1996 by Nelson Jessup, an administrator with over 35 years experience in public education. Nelson served as a teacher and administrator and then as an associate superintendent for operations and twice as interim superintendent in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. He also served twice as interim superintendent for Stokes County Schools.

His knowledge and experience became his passion and included implementing and managing an energy saving program for WS/FCS that saved $2,741,692 in public money over one four-year period.

Our mission is inspired by Mr. Jessup’s work, commitment, and accomplishments. Our goal is to make these savings possible for other districts and, like Mr. Jessup, to do business in a way that helps them keep the money we help them save.

As of 2018, EduCon Energy has helped 23 different school districts in North Carolina and Georgia develop and implement energy management and conservation programs. In addition, EduCon has worked with Charlotte-Mecklenburg County and Horry County, SC schools with implementation of the student-based EnergyWise energy conservation program.

Our Team

Andrew LaRowe – Contract Administration, Data Analysis, Report Development and Presentations

Andrew LaRowe became President of EduCon Energy in October 2014. He has over 30 years experience as an educational facilities administrator and significant involvement with the development and implementation of energy programs for school districts. Over the years, he has developed and administered facility condition assessments for school districts on a national basis.  Andrew is highly experienced in the management of facilities assessments as well as the development and preparation of major capital improvement plans. Prior to joining EduCon, Andrew served in a senior leadership capacity for Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, North Carolina as Chief Operations Officer. In this role he was responsible for all planning, design, construction, facilities management, maintenance, transportation and other operational divisions of the school district. A point of significant pride for Andrew is that he began his career in the classroom as a teacher and has always valued the foundation it provided as he pursued a variety of roles involving educational facilities. He also spent several years with Progress Energy as a facilities administrator. He attended Appalachian State University and holds a BS in Industrial Technology and Secondary Education. He has been a presenter at numerous conferences across the country and also co-authors feature articles for School Planning and Management magazine.

David Barnes – Project Manager, Software Management/Integration, Data Analysis, Team Coordination

David Barnes is a Project Manager with EduCon Energy, Inc. where he is involved in all aspects of EduCon’s business.  Mr. Barnes is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) with over 30 years in facility and energy management, primarily with educational facilities. He has provided consulting services for many educational facilities on aspects of preventive maintenance, inventory control, asset management and continuous improvement.  Mr. Barnes has managed various facility condition assessment projects (ex. San Francisco City Schools). He has personally performed numerous lighting audits and retrofit projects. He is highly experienced in field data collection and nuances of education organizations. He is very experienced in building automation installation and programming. Mr. Barnes was formerly the Sr. Manager for Dude Solution’s Energy Services and was a leader in their adoption of the Energy Manager application.  He specializes in process improvement as proven by his achieving ISO 9001 certification for a major world-wide technical organization, along with the architecture and development of various software tools to improve efficiency and accuracy.

Thomas J. (Pete) Morgan Jr – Database Manager, Quality Control, Training

Pete Morgan retired from RJ Reynolds Tobacco with over 30 years of financial experience. He served as manager of systems development and financial controls for the customer financial services area, manager of the accounts receivable department and was responsible for capital budgeting preparation. Pete manages EduCon’s Energy Master Pro utility tracking system and works closely with energy managers with bill entry and reporting.

Terri Bain – Administrative Assistant, Scheduling, Compliance Auditing, Document Management

Terri Bain has worked with EduCon for two years as an administrative assistant. Terri has over 10 years of experience in office management. In other business ventures Terri has focused on and honed exceptional skills in organization and data management. Terri has a BS in Organizational Management and a MA in Human Services. Terri performs all scheduling for energy audits matching client energy managers with EduCon consultants. She organizes copies of all facility audits and ensures that maintenance related items are reported and addressed. She is also responsible for organizing training sessions such as the annual EduCon Conference in Winston-Salem.

Dave Lyons – Energy Manager Training, Data Analysis, Routine Site Compliance Audits

Dave has over twenty years of experience in energy management and utility monitoring; nine of those years working with EduCon.  As an EduCon consultant, he conducted energy audits for public school systems in Henderson, Rutherford, Davidson, Moore, Mitchell, Gaston and New Hanover counties. His other energy management experience includes positions as energy manager for Meredith College in Raleigh, NC; for six years, and Henderson County Public Schools; for four years.  He also held the position of controls technician, then energy manager, for General Electric Lighting Systems, in Hendersonville, NC; for twelve years. Dave’s professional qualifications include a Diploma in Energy Management from NC State, and a Professional Energy Manager (PEM) certification.  He also has an Associate’s degree in Electronic Engineering Technology. Dave appreciates the challenge of finding new ways to save energy, and analyzing the data of the schools we audit. 

Mike Pardue – Energy Manager Training, Data Analysis, Routine Site Compliance Audits

Mike began working with EduCon Energy 11 years ago. During that time he has performed energy audits in Alexander, Cabarrus, Salisbury-Rowan, Davidson, Randolph, Montgomery, Mitchell, Rutherford, Henderson, Scotland, Gaston, Union, and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Mike is currently the Safety/Security/Energy Manager at Yadkin County Schools. Of his 24 total years with the district, the first 14 were as a maintenance electrician and the past 10 have been in energy management. Mike is a NC licensed electrician with an Associate’s degree Electrical Technology. He also earned an energy conservation diploma from NC State and qualified for certifications as a Professional Energy Manager (PEM) and Manager of Environmental Safety & Health (MESH). Mike is particularly skilled in water conservation, data analysis, energy audits, and working with HVAC controls. Working in several different positions over the years in school facilities has provided Mike Pardue with a unique understanding of the problems faced with operations.

Charles Lamm – Energy Manager Training, Data Analysis, Routine Site Compliance Audits, BAS Controls Audits

Charles has been working with EduCon Energy for over 10 years, notably with New Hanover County Schools and Moore County Schools as well as many other clients. He has held the Professional Energy Manager (PEM) certification since 2001 and is highly knowledgeable with HVAC control systems. He retired from Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools in 2014 after serving 11 years as their Energy Coordinator. During that period the district was able to reduce energy by more than 30% and achieved cost avoidance savings yearly of over $1,000,000. Charles helped the district achieve Energy Star Certification for every school in the district earning Energy Star Partner of the year in 2009. Prior to working with Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools, Charles was Maintenance Director for Lenoir County Schools. He also worked in the private sector installing HVAC equipment along with supervising personnel. He served in the U.S. Navy and is well known for building radio-controlled model US Navy warships in his spare time.

Mike Armour – Energy Manager Training, Data Analysis, Routine Site Compliance Audits, BAS Controls Audits

Mike has been with EduCon for two years as an Energy Manager. He is currently working with Gaston County Public Schools and Union County Public Schools. He has over 40 years of experience in maintaining K-12 school facilities.  He worked for the Rock Hill School District right out of high school and has been involved in educational facilities administration his entire career. He considers himself fortunate to have worked his way through the ranks gaining hands-on experience in all areas of maintenance and operations. Mike was the Director of Operations for the Rock Hill School District where he was responsible for facilities maintenance, capital budget and the energy conservation program. His experiences span a wide range in facilities care and organizing a maintenance department. Early in his career, he had the opportunity to work in many different capacities. He managed projects as small as installing an electrical circuit and as large as building a 365,000 square foot high school. He was involved in the design and development of new schools helping to make decisions on the best products and systems. He was responsible for the energy conservation program. Mike was instrumental in the organization and implementation of technology in the Rock Hill School District maintenance department. He was the first in his area to install computerized maintenance management software to better organize and manage the workload of the district. He has always been on the leading edge of building automation technology implementing facilities scheduling software that communicated with building automation systems reducing run times of mechanical systems thus saving energy.