Where Sterling Planet CEO sees
green power industry headed;
how he plans to stay on top

"We're probably just a few kwh away from 1 billion kwh of renewable power," says Mel Jones, CEO.
     That's a mix of wind, solar and biomass sold largely to Fortune 500 firms trying to enhance their brand, do more for the environment, for social responsible activities or they may have a goal to try to lower their greenhouse footprint via renewable certificates.
     Where does that put Sterling in the pecking order?
     He's working with 18 utilities who are outsourcing green power. Sterling supplies the meter.
     Who's the largest?
     Austin Energy, the municipal utility, selling about 290 million kwh/year, he replied. That's an annual number. It's published on the Green Power Network.
     Comparing the 290 million to the billion shows Jones "many utilities sell very few kilowatt hours to a small number of residential customers."
     "We have a lot of large customers. We have not found anybody that has sold more renewable power at retail than Sterling.
     It's the large corporate clients that help with the numbers, he added.
     Some people sell at wholesale and those numbers aren't publicized, he reported, "but in the retail area we're confident that we're the leaders in North America."
     "We just know how big deals are and there just aren't that many people that play in what I call the retail markets that are not utilities," he explained.
     Many utilities sell 25 million, 30 million or 50 million kwh and don't come close to Austin's 290 million.
     From a utility standpoint they have a smaller service territory so they can sign up the large clients like we can.
     What about Green Mountain?
     Green Mountain sells mainly to residentials, he responded, but not all sign up for 100% green as they do in Ohio.
     The private firm doesn't publish sales figures and Jones simply doesn't know what Green Mountain's sales are.
     "They don't have very many large customers so when you add that up it can't be too big because residential customers just don't buy that much green power.
     The market is handled by "three or four credible players."
     He cited Community Energy, based in Pennsylvania, that's sold a good number of wind contracts.  Jones named 3 Phases on the West Coast.
     What does Jones see up ahead for green?
     He sees two markets -- mandated and voluntary markets -- and voluntary is where the action has been.
     Utilities offer to their residential and business customers a chance to pay extra for renewable power and X number sign up.
     He reports steady and increasing growth.
     The real upside is what we call the mandated market where government agencies, state governments and utilities have decided that they are going to buy so much green power.
     The White House has self-imposed something via executive order in 2000 and each agency has to buy so much green power.
     Meanwhile 16 states have renewable portfolio standards -- if you count New York now putting the finishing touches on a package -- and Jones predicts the number of states will grow and the amount to be bought is rising as well.
     Jones and Therrell [Sonny] Murphy founded the company after leaving the Southern Cos in Atlanta. Murphy was treasurer of the Southern parent firm.
Murphy is "off doing some power projects for our company.
     "He's focused on our power projects side and I run the company on a day-to-day basis and he's obviously the chairman of the board and we're a privately held company, but he's focused on that.
     Sterling Planet is privately held by the employees and he's eager to expand into part of the country where they're not active now and into the international market.
     Jones is watching the carbon market begin to develop and hopes to enter "on a case-by-case basis."
     "A lot of our clients have offices all over the world and we want to support them in those regions as our first strategy," he explained.
     Jones sees a growing opportunity to help multi-national firms with renewable power needs and by managing carbon commitments.
     While Europe has defined the carbon rules, Jones sees the US catching up.
     You really expect the carbon market to take off in about six months?
     That's right, he replied.
     We suspect the election may have something to do with that.

     (Story originally published in Restructuring Today 8/11/04)