Our People
R. Joe Tondu - President
Mr. Tondu is the President and sole shareholder of Tondu Corporation. He is primarily responsible for identifying new business opportunities, marketing, and coordinating the various project development efforts. Mr. Tondu began his career at Getty Oil Company where he worked as a staff geologist for three years. During this period, he was responsible for monitoring oil and gas development drilling activities throughout the Texas Gulf Coast. In 1978, Mr. Tondu created the predecessor to Tondu Corporation and began actively developing oil and gas exploration and development ventures. This involved identifying and leasing drilling prospects, raising investment capital, and managing the drilling and production of oil and gas wells.
In early 1982, Mr. Tondu sold the oil and gas leasehold interest of the Company and expanded into industrial project development. Mr. Tondu identified the independent power business in 1984 as a new emerging industry and focused the Company’s activities on this new industry. Mr. Tondu was responsible for identifying the Filer City and Williams Lake Projects, assembling the respective project development teams, and formulating many of the development strategies that led to their success.
During the development of the Filer City Project, Mr. Tondu led the negotiations for the key contracts and was instrumental in organizing the political lobbying effort in the state of Michigan resulting in the enactment of Public Act 81. This law created much of the legal framework that supported the development of the independent power plant business in the state of Michigan. In the Williams Lake Project, Mr. Tondu led the negotiations for the power purchase agreement. Mr. Tondu received a B.S. in geology from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan and a M.A. in geology from the University of Texas at Austin.