The Altresco Story

In 1986 I co-founded a company by the name of Altresco Inc. The Altresco name was derived from Alternative Resource Company. Since I already had amassed significant credentials and experience as a successful real estate developer, I was drawn to finding opportunities that were recognized as viable by the financial community as well as representing a substantial step forward in energy efficiency and environmental impact.

A series of events brought the Altresco team to Pittsfield MA where we found that the 12,000,000 sq. ft General Electric complex had environmental problems that urgently needed to be solved. GE’s cogeneration division had come to the opinion that cogeneration was not a viable option. As a result, they were willing to let the Altresco team take a run at making cogeneration work there. Through a process of re examining assumptions we were able to develop a strategy for getting natural gas to Pittsfield at a price that made the project possible. This and other precedent setting strategies allowed us to evolve a business and project model that resulted in the successful development of the $200,000,000.00 Altresco Cogeneration facility.

Even though there were 5 divisions of GE that were impacted or involved in the project, Altresco was the group that was able to bring the project to fruition.

This facility went online in 1990 and displaced the source of 800 tons per year of sulfur emissions and, by precedent, over 70,000 tons per year of NOx emissions in
New England.

This project established Altresco as a viable and leading player in the New England co-generation and electrical utility community. We were invited to develop at second facility at the GE Lynn River works complex at Lynn MA. We developed that project to the point of successfully competing for the last 3 power purchase agreements awarded in New England under PURPA. This competition was with virtually every major player in the industry. Soon after this, the US portion of the Altresco organization was aquired by the J Makowski Company and PG&E.

During 1991, I was invited to assist the Manila Electric Company in rebuilding their generating capacity after the company was returned to its pre Marcos ownership group.

Since Meralco was now a privately owned corporation in a bankrupt developing country this was quite a challenge. Ironically, as a result of the structure of the return of the Meralco company to its original shareholders, it was a better credit risk that the country itself. Working with that knowledge and by forming a collaborative venture with Meralco we were able to devise a transaction structure that ultimately lead to the construction of the $900,000,000.00, 460 MW Quezon Power facility along with a 30 km transmission project. The Quezon Facility commenced operation in 2000.