Say It Ain’t So, Jon

Jon Bonnano has gone up the creek without a paddle. In November the former greentech lead at the Keiretsu Forum announced he was leaving his post to found Principle Power, an independent renewable power provider. Bonnano was halfway through raising his first $1.5 million when he announced the company’s first project - a series of nine small hydro plants on the McKenzie River in Oregon. In committing to this project, Bonnano placed himself squarely in the Khosla school of greentech, arguing “if we cannot beat the true cost of burning wood, coal, or dung, which includes their emissions costs and without subsidies, we have lost.”

But Joe Bonnano would have more than flaming bags of dog poo to contend with…

Principle Power’s application for the nine hydro plants was swiftly denied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC spokeswoman Celeste Miller explained “the letter we sent indicates that the preliminary permit request was deficient and didn’t conform to our standards.” Celeste… isn’t that a little harsh?

Well, no. Principle Power’s application failed to provide information on the plant locations, reservoir storage capacity and plant surface area, generation capacity, and length and voltage of transmission lines. In other words, Jon B. hadn’t done his homework. The only thing he seems to know for about his new project is that “this ain’t your father’s hydro plant.” And that certainly isn’t enough to make it past the swift and mighty justice of FERC.

Come to think of it, $1.5 million isn’t a whole lot of money. It’s barely enough to build a hydro plant for the Underpants Gnomes. I guess lawyers are expensive. Let’s hope for Jon’s sake that his next round will buy him some better legal advice, or at least help him buy a clue.