| FuelCellStocks.Com Fuel Cell News Plug Power Inc. Source: Times
Union Company founded: 1997 Activities: The developer of on-site fuel-cell energy systems has one commercial product, GenCore, a backup power source for utilities, and is working on a number of others, including a home energy station for use in the automotive fuel cell market. Strategic partners include GE Fuel Cell Systems, DTE Energy Technologies, Vaillant GmbH, Honda R&D Co. Ltd., Engelhard Corp. and PEMEAS GmbH. Employees: 320 Performance: Plug Power's stock underperformed both the Nasdaq composite index and the Russell 3000 technology composite index over a five-year period ended Dec. 31. A $100 investment in Plug on Oct. 29, 1999 -- its public offering date -- fell to about $21 by year-end 2004. The same investment also declined in the indexes, but by less: it fell to about $40 on the Russell and to about $55 on the Nasdaq. Special notes: Plug extended a product- development agreement, dating to 1999, under which it outsources technical support services (engineering, testing, manufacturing and quality control) to General Electric Co. The original pact saw Plug pledge to purchase a minimum of $12 million in services over a five-year period; last year, the agreement was extended to September 2006. Through year-end 2004, Plug purchased $9.9 million in services from GE. During the first quarter, Plug signed a contract with Honda R&D of Japan to proceed with developing a next-generation prototype of the home energy station that will reduce its size and cost. The product aims to provide electricity and heat to a home or small business, while also providing hydrogen fuel for a fuel-cell vehicle.
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