Plug Power
- Plug Power was doing so well; why did you leave?
I formulated the concept and strategy behind Plug Power while at Detroit Edison
and became its founding CEO. During the three plus years I managed the company, it grew from an initial employee base of 22 to become the world wide leader in
residential fuel cell development. At its peak we employed over 500 people. Under my direction we took the company public with the assistance of Goldman Sachs
and raised over $200 million from public and private sources. As the company matured, the board of directors and I had a difference of opinion as to how the
company would prosper best going forward. They believed it was the proper time for a more formal and highly organized culture to be installed and ended up hiring
executives from Ford, Xerox, and General Motors in order to make this happen. I believed that at the time, it was too early for such a change and that Plug Power
would be better suited by continuing in its entrepreneurial style of management. Plug power was a great company when I left and it is a great company today.
- What is the current outlook for fuel cells and why are they not yet being sold as commercial units to power our homes?
The progress
we were making during the early years at Plug Power was incredibly fast. This led us, and I should also say the industry, to believe that the presence of a
commercialized product was just around the corner. As it turned out, some of the reliability issues were tougher to resolve than any of us had anticipated
thereby delaying the commercial rollout. Understanding this background, the future for fuel cells is bright. Plug Power is selling units to niche markets and
automobile companies, General Motors and Honda, have prototype units on the road.
- You were named as part of a class action law suit against Plug Power, what's the story?
In the year 2000, Plug Power and five
of its senior employees were named in a class action law suit for allegedly providing misleading statements to the public. This occurred during a time period
when many law firms thought they could make a quick and easy buck filing these claims. There were hundreds if not possibly thousands of suits being filed during
this period. Bottom line, there was no truth to these charges. Plug Power decided to settle the suit out of court because it was less costly than fighting it and
incurring all the legal fees. No finding of wrong doing by Plug Power or any of its employees ever occurred.
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