Despite the "Burner Power Phase" config setting being Unchecked/False, Steam Power is still a required technology rather than being available at the outset.
This "issue" appears to persist when Bob's Power is installed without Bob's Tech installed - or rather the design intent is unclear in the mod configuration.
Proposal: Tooltips for the Bob's Power configuration checkboxes that clearly indicate what features are disabled or enabled with them? I would presume that unchecking "Burner Electric Generator" resolves this matter but this doesn't appear to be the case.
Problem indicated here rather than on Bob's Power mod due to it being a small and "partly related" issue.