Dent Instruments CEO Jonas Greberg, left, Dent Instruments founder, Christopher Dent, see big growth potential for the local company.

Dent Instruments, an energy metering company in Bend, has steadily grown in reputation and businesses for the past three decades.

But most Central Oregonians will not have heard of the business, other than seeing its red-brick front on SW Emkay Drive. Just 22 people work there, but the equipment it manufactures, develops and sells span the globe, said founder Christopher Dent.

The company captured the attention of a Swedish company, Bemsiq AB, which acquired the business in late 2022. Bemsiq AB, which employs 500 people and has annual revenue of $120 million, provides building automation and power metering in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Dent is not the first Bend business to be acquired by a larger corporation, said Don Myll, Economic Development for Central Oregon Bend area director. Examples include, Dometic, which purchased in 2021 Bend-based Zamp Solar, a manufacturer of mobile solar power solutions for the outdoor market with reported earnings of $14 million. Or Bend Research Inc., which was purchased by Lonza in 2013 and continues to grow its footprint.

“It’s common for companies that have been acquired to stay here and grow,” Myll said. “These companies use the talent base here to grow the company internationally. That’s been repeated a few times.”

Like many of these acquisitions, the larger company usually sees potential for growth, said Nicole Ramos, Oregon Employment Department regional economist.

“While I can’t speak for Bemsiq AB, if they plan on expanding and/or maintaining growth, then we would expect employment gains in the region, which would stimulate the local economy,” Ramos said. “The international recognition as a place of growth also signals that Bend and the surrounding area are good places to set up shop and/or expand an already established business.”

Dent’s future

Bemsiq AB doesn’t plan on changing anything at Dent Instruments in Bend, said Jonas Greberg, Dent Instruments new CEO. The name will stay the same, which is of value to customers and so will most of the operations, Greberg said.

For the next few months, Dent’s founder, plans on remaining on as an adviser to the new company.

“I’m not going anywhere” Dent said. “I have been in Bend for 40 years, and it’s been my home base for most of my life.”

New products added in 2018

Dent Instruments builds on energy metering expertise

The 35-year-old company has continued to evolve over the years manufacturing energy savings and monitoring devices for businesses. Among its products, Dent has developed metering equipment that measures energy use of individual units in an apartment building or systems that can break down a single commercial building’s energy uses such as lights and heating and cooling.

Most of its business is outside of Bend, Dent said. Such powerhouses as Wendy’s and Best Buy, are some of the businesses that are customers of Dent Instruments.

Greberg, who arrived in Bend just two months ago with his family, said the company will be expanding in the arena of tech support and cloud storage that will enable customers to access device data remotely.

“The electricity measurements will help our customers analyze and handle their consumption over time in multiple buildings and also use the data for other purposes/tools like sustainability reporting, or energy programs,” Greberg said.

“It’s so much easier to handle data when it’s stored in the cloud.”

Understanding energy use

As the world focuses more on alternative sources of energy away from fossil fuels, businesses that provide monitoring equipment like Dent Instruments, play an important role in that future, said Jennifer Kalez, Oregon Department of Energy spokeswoman.

In Oregon, 38% of the electricity comes from hydropower.Coal and natural gas generate just less than half. A smaller, yet growing amount of electricity comes from renewable sources, Kalez said. The state has set 2030 as the year utilities must stop providing coal-powered electricity to consumers. That means the electricity generated mix will change in the next seven years, she said.

From the archives

Dent’s new meter for measuring electricity use

“Oregonians have an interest in understanding where their energy comes from,” Kalez said. “Many smaller utilities like people’s utility districts, cooperatives and municipalities, are already nearly 100% clean energy, as they purchase power from the hydropower-dominant Bonneville Power Administration.”

Tracking energy use helps forge efficiencies. Dent Instruments was founded after the energy crisis of the late 1970s, when consumers faced gasoline shortages and energy prices soared. A mechanical and electrical engineer, Dent started the company in 1988.

He began with the idea that if energy use can be measured in greater detail than had been done before, then that data could be used to guide conservation strategies and reduce energy costs to consumers. The power monitors designed by Dent Instruments produce data that can be analyzed to create cost savings for small and large energy consumers, Dent said.

“Our focus has always been the same, but how we went about it has grown from energy conservation, information and green technology, to now include tenant billing and cloud solutions that can be used by other companies around the world to save energy,” Dent said. “We’ve stayed true to that even as our product mix and customer base has grown.”

While Dent will remain associated with the business he founded, Greberg and Bemsiq will take the company to the next mile.

“It’s been a good transition,” Greberg said. “We’ll take the legacy forward.”