Jones sees bright future for Sterling Planet

The green power market is going to be a big place and Sterling Planet's poised to be a leader in the sector, says the firm's CEO and founder Mel Jones.
     Sterling Planet started in 2000.
     It sells green power via renewable energy certificates (RECs).
     It's signed up over 222,000 customers, he said, tallying the volume at over 2.4 billion kwh.
     The firm has partnered with 27 utilities to sell RECs where markets are open and where they're not.
     Utilities are where the rubber meets the road, he added, because that's where customers expect to get power.
     Collaborating with utilities and regulators makes expanding green choice easier, Jones said.
     In fact, Sterling Planet is preparing to team with the New York PSC and Consolidated Edison to offer Manhattan customers green power for the first time.
     Sterling Planet has just raised $1.6 million working capital in six weeks.
     Jones uses Ardour Capital Investments of Manhattan and plans to raise another $3.5 million in the near future.
     The sky's the limit right now for Sterling Planet, Jones said.
     Sterling Planet has a portfolio of world-class clients unmatched in depth and breadth, noted Jones.
     He's talking about 170 large, prestigious businesses and 19 federal agencies, such as the EPA, IRS, Dept of Homeland Security, the General Services Administration, the US Army and the National Renewable Energy Lab.
     New York State buys power from Sterling Planet, too.
     Sterling Planet is growing among multi-national firms who wish to voluntarily comply with the Kyoto Protocol's greenhouse gas rules, Jones added.
     Staples, Alcoa and DuPont are three such customers, Jones noted.
     Sterling Planet handles a large customer volume with little overhead by outsourcing most backroom tasks, Jones noted.
     He had been a high ranking Southern Co official before building the green firm.
     The firm stays competitive because it doesn't need a large team to handle its large volume, he added.
     Sterling Planet checks its green power several ways, Jones said, for authenticity.
     Green-e and Environmental Resources Trust certify the firm's power and it complies with state regulation where regulators mandate utilities account for a percentage of green power.
     A third party audits Sterling Planet's buying, too.
     Originally published in Restructuring Today on August 31, 2005