John Doran

About John

• I grew up in New York.
• I earned my bachelor’s degree in geography, specializing in satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems, and then went on to earn my master’s degree.
• I started on my Ph.D. but didn’t like the program, so I came back home and started working for my brother’s lawn sprinkler company.
• The sprinkler company wasn’t something I could see myself doing long-term, so I moved to Rhode Island and got a job at an electrical supply house.
• I spent some time working as an electrician after a customer piqued my interest in pursuing the trade.
• Working as an electrician was fun and a valuable trade to learn but I knew it wasn’t the ultimate route for me, so I moved back to New York and started working toward becoming a schoolteacher.
• While working as a teacher, a friend and I started PlugIn Stations Online, an electric vehicle infrastructure company—I jumped right in and started learning all about the electric vehicle industry.
• In addition to leading PlugIn Stations Online, I’m also the owner and president of Valatie Falls Hydropower, where we generate about 160,000 watts of continuous power for Valatie, New York.