A pioneer in the electric biz.

If all you need to succeed in business is the ability to recognize a good opportunity, Allen L. Thurgood, the founder and chief executive officer of First Rochdale Cooperative Group, Ltd., certainly has what it takes. When New York State was considering deregulation laws for electric power in 1995, Thurgood immediately came up with the idea of forming an electricity cooperative to help New Yorkers save on their electricity costs. The result was First Rochdale Cooperative Group, the only company besides Con Edison that provides electricity within the New York urban area, and the only one so far than can serve any client, from a hospital to a building complex to a retail store.

Thurgood, who has served as the executive director of Coordinated Co-Op Housing Services and Coordinated Council of Cooperatives for a number of years, was able to combine the idea of a cooperative, a united buying power, and electricity as one of the basic commodities buildings pay for.

"The reason that a co-operative group was so attractive to Allen," Alex Steinberg, the spokesperson for First Rochdale Cooperative, said "is because there's no profit involved. You pull your resources together to improve whatever there is to be improved in the building. And one of the top expenditures for any building is electricity. So, Allen thought: "Why not form our own electricity cooperative that will give consumers a choice?"

At first, this rather revolutionary idea was not accepted with much warmth, a phenomenon that occurs fairly often when people try to be truly creative. Now, however, only five years after its formation, First Rochdale has a formidable presence in New York City and the surrounding areas, serving large residential and commercial cooperatives throughout all five boroughs and Westchester County. The company offers its customers a choice of three websites in three different languages: English, Russian, and Spanish, proving that it has a great understanding of the unique demands of New York City and a desire to satisfy its customer base. And according to his employees, that is what Thurgood's company is all about.

"Because we are a start-up business," Thurgood's spokesperson explained, "customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth is very important to us. There was a situation the other day when someone called in and her meter was broken, so she asked us to fix it. The truth was that she wasn't even using our services, but we called Con Edison ourselves to find out what has happened. She may never become our customer, but she is important to us."

In fact, the people at First Rochdale work very hard to ensure that their clients get the best quality of service, while paying as little as possible for the electricity they receive. T'hurgood and his team are constantly in search for new ways of generating power, so as to lower the costs of electricity consumption in New York. "we encourage many of our clients to use distributed generation of power," Steinberg explained. "We work with building owners to help them determine which method would help them save money, and which makes the most business sense."

First Rochdale's next step in that direction should attract a great deal of attention -- the company plans to begin its solar power operations in the Fall of 2000. Always environmentally-conscious, Thurgood would like to make use of as many sources of energy as possible, preferably at lowered costs. "Our aim is to provide enough electricity capacity that power blackouts, such as those experienced across the country during the heat waves last summer, will be a thing of the past," he said. "And with new green, highly efficient generation technology coming on the market, we will be able to increase capacity without increasing consumption or pollution."

Thurgood plans to use thin film technology to generate solar energy for the buildings in his co-operative group. Specially-made solar panels will be installed in places on the building that are directly exposed to sunlight, such as roofs or sloped wall surfaces. "As the direction of the sunlight changes," Steinberg explained, "power could be gathered front any side."

Currently, Firstt Rochdale is in negotiations with a number of solar producers to determine how to best use New York's solar potential. "There is just as much sunshine falling on New York, as on the South West. And the days of the power outages in the city, are ones there is the most sunshine. Now we will be able to use all that sunshine to our advantage," Thurgood's employees said.

The first properties to experience the effects of First Rochdale's solar pursuits will be the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative buildings in the Bronx, and the East Midtown Plaza Cooperative in Manhattan.

Sid Moskowitz, general manager of East Midtown Plaza, was thrilled about her building being chosen as a sort of a guinea pig for the project. "This will be a great opportunity to attack our electricity rate structure," she said. "And we've also estimated that it will lower our gas costs by 10% to 15%."