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Technology Stocks : Ballard Power -world leader zero-emission PEM fuel cells -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Craig Woods who wrote (1291)	11/3/1997 1:44:00 PM
From: Michael Winkler	Respond to of 5827

Craig: My home in Mountain View feeds electricity from solar panels back into the grid. Although California state law requires that the local utility(in this case Pacific Gas and Electric) bill me for the net amount of electricity that I use, in effect paying me at the same rate that I pay them. In practice, PG&E has been hostile and uncooperative and actually replaced the meter that I had that would run both backward and forward with one that would only run forward. In January '98 California is beginning to deregulate electric utilities. Customers will begin to be able to choose the company that generates their electricity. This is similar to deregulation of the telephone industry. This will provide an opportunity for for companies to market, "green power", from environmentally benign sources, although for now all that they can do is to resell existing power sources. This should be a niche market similar to that for organically grown food. These companies should be able to command premium prices for their electricity and should be able to pool power from many sources, both large and small. Initially, I don't think that "small" would be anything as small as a single home. However, depending on their definition of "green power", this might include some electricity generated by fuel cells. How "green" this is also depends upon the fuel source for the fuel cells. Two companies that I am aware of that are starting to market "green power" are: Working Assets Green Power(San Francisco) (Their current businesses are money market and stock mutual funds and long-distance phone service, all with social screens) wald.com Green Mountain Energy Resources(Vermont) choosewisely.com Among the fuel sources for fuel cells that I would consider "green" would be landfill gas and sewage treatment gas. ERC is already involved in a USEPA program to use landfill gas for generating electricity. Molten carbonate fuel cells, such as those used by ERC, would be best for larger applications. PEM fuel cells, such as those used by Ballard and by the project that I am working on, would be better for smaller applications.