I recently spoke with John Cheney, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Regenesis Power (http://www.regenesispower.com/), a company that designs, engineers, finances and builds solar thermal and solar photovoltaic power solutions for businesses. John has been a member of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) www.E2.org for five years and is currently devoting his time and energy to push for the enactment of a Feed-in Tariff system by the California State Legislature of California.

Q. Do you have previous experience in the solar industry? How did you end up working at Regenesis?

A. I've actually started four companies in a variety of industries, including entertainment, computer graphics and fiber optics. The last company I was involved in was called MMA Renewable Ventures, a renewable and solar-energy project finance company. MMA received funding about four years ago, in 2005, and it's been one of the largest financiers of solar projects in the U.S. since then. Regenesis works closely with MMA on the financing of projects.

Q. What led to your affiliation with Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)?

A. I have known Bob Epstein, one of the founders of E2, very well for many years. We were actually roommates in college. I've been involved with the organization now for five years and I was initially drawn to it because of Bob and co-founder Nicole Lederer and their incredible leadership. I watched what was involved in their major successes, including one with gasoline additives. I realized that I wanted to help the group and NRDC, and that's when I joined. I've been to various gatherings and met many fascinating and action-oriented people.

Q. What kind of role have you played at E2?

A. This last year I went to Washington twice with the team, once in the fall and again in the spring. I'm currently on my third round of substantial lobbying in Sacramento, in front of the State Legislature of California. This year we are lobbying for the enactment of a Feed-in Tariff-a European-style method of paying homeowners for producing green energy. It has been very successful in Germany and Spain.

When we represent E2 in front of the legislature, we go there to shine sunlight, so to speak, on the policy debate. We bring market knowledge, economic understanding, instincts and connections to help the legislators and their staff members weed through the political disinformation that goes on. We are like citizen activists, trying to influence policy.

Q. How would a company like Regenesis benefit from government action, including the passage of a Feed-in-Tariff? As you said, it has been successful in Europe in getting electricity utilities to buy renewable energy power.

A. A Feed-in Tariff is definitely needed to help spur the growth of the clean energy economy. It would limit the time spent on transactions and the transaction costs, paving the way for action instead of inaction. We don't have a Feed-in Tariff in place in the U.S., and 30 other countries do.  I'm helping speak to that and hoping to get a favorable bill passed by the legislature in California.

The likelihood that we will get a favorable bill is better than 50-50, and it will likely pass in early January, if there is enough community support. Some utilities are opposed because they are concerned about control and the quality of the system. They want to minimize the size of the program and be cautious.

A Feed-in Tariff will especially help companies like Regenesis that are involved in distributed generation projects, which are projects where the renewable energy is produced near where it will be used.

Q. Can you talk a bit more about Regenesis and what services it provides to its clients?

A. Regenesis has two different lines of business: the original, core business, which is fields of photovoltaic solar-panels, known as solar farms. The second is solar thermal, which uses photo thermal panels on roofs to heat water. Thermal is old technology in the sense that it's simple, and it doesn't involve silicon or moving parts. We've been able to sell it on a large scale and roll it out to entire utilities, community by community.

Regenesis doesn't manufacture the panels and equipment and components-those are bought in mass in large contracts. We design, build, own and provide financing for the customers. It's a one-stop shop in the sense that everything is provided. All the customer has to decide is if they like the quality of the service, and saving money.

Q. How has Regenesis been affected by this recession?

A. In one way, we've actually done extraordinarily well during the recession. We are growing, but we do have the same problem everyone else does, and that's dealing with the banks, which ironically, will lend only to the people and businesses that don't need the money. The fact is the recession has created a very messy environment. I use the word "messy," even though it's not a financial term, because it's the best way to describe it.

If you have a successful, growing business that eventually needs more financing it will run into the same problem that many companies throughout the country are having: The banks won't lend, or they want too much money at sky-high interest rates. Big companies and small companies alike are spending a lot of time on transactions and trying to make sense of complicated forms and applications. It's a very difficult environment in which to do business.

Q. Why are many of your clients in the agricultural or industrial sectors?

A. Our clients are generally airports, industrial or government clients, which are among the few businesses and institutions that can get credit and financing these days. You can do a solar project with an airport because it's a tax-authority, so it's not going to go out of business and it's able to get the financing for the project. Retail businesses, on the other hand, are having trouble getting financing for large projects like this. I think that will change when two things happen: when the pricing for solar-energy materials comes down enough to make it affordable, and when the credit markets loosen up and the economy turns around so that banks start lending to small businesses again.

Q. In 2008 Regenesis completed a 1.9 megawatt solar power system installed at Bolthouse Farms in California. This is a massive project. What is needed to execute solar projects of this scale?

A. A couple of things are needed. First of all, you have to have the space for the solar field and you have to have the need for it. The farmers have the electricity needs-they are actually very large power consumers. In fact, 20 percent of all power used in California is for pumping water. Much of a farm's electricity costs come from pumping water for irrigation. Unless a solar project is going to save the farmer money on the cost of pumping water, it wouldn't make sense to do the project. And of course, you have to have the financing since many farms are cash-poor.

Q. What are the benefits of distributed generation - of having solar production take place at or near the facility where it will be utilized?

A. It's good to build the solar field near where the energy will be utilized because transmission capabilities don't exist and can't be built quickly enough, and there is not an alternative in the near term. You are better off locating a solar field near the utility and customer base than out in the desert where you have to transport the energy 100 miles. It's clear, logically, that you have to do something locally. It's the answer to the problem. Outside from some superseding event to make it easier and affordable to build new transmission lines, distributed generation is the answer for right now.

Q. How do you think changing to a green economy will stimulate the overall economy?

A. In my experience, renewable energy can generate a huge number of jobs. They key for the government is, how do we make a huge industry develop, help a lot of people and make companies a lot of money? There should be thousands of companies like Regenesis out there. The key is, can we gather the policy in line? That's yet to be seen.

Q. Where do you see your company in 5, 10, even 15 years?

A. I see the possibility of Regenesis being a billion-dollar company and possibly being bought out by a utility. Or perhaps some version of it will scale big enough to be independent and have clout in the utility community. You have to be there because, unfortunately, in most industries seven or 10 big companies usually win out. I think Regenesis has legs. That's why I joined it at an early stage.