A central form of community power is the community renewable energy Co-operative. Any group of fifty or more individuals in Ontario can be registered as a Co-operative by paying a membership fee and making what's called an offering statement, a document that sets out the purposes and rules of the Co-operative.
The rules for Co-operatives had to be modified to allow those focused on generating renewable energy: conventionally, co-ops in other fields exist for the purposes of dealing goods and services (50%, to be precise) among their members. An energy project necessarily sells power to the grid, so the rules had to be modified to exempt co-ops that own energy facilities from the internal-dealing-only requirement.
By Ministerial Directive, 25 megawatts have been set aside for renewable energy projects with community ownership over 50% ("50% plus one"). Such projects also qualify for priority points in evaluating Small FIT projects.
Currently 77 organizations are listed by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario as renewable energy co-ops. There is more than one type of renewable energy co-op, and the structure of the sector has evolved, as the energy sector itself evolved to include renewable and distributed energy: some were established to develop and own projects; others have been formed as umbrella organizations to advocate, educate and assist in the sector's development. Still other entities, some private companies and not necessarily co-ops themselves, have emerged as facilitators to help co-ops set themselves up, as with the initial offering statement – an exercise that one co-op at least took a full year to complete – and the early stage tasks in setting up a power project.
Veteran participants in the field also draw a distinction between "grassroots" co-ops and what might be called "co-ops of convenience." The former get their start at the grassroots level, by private citizens getting together, purchasing a membership ($500 is a typical entry price) and preparing the paperwork themselves or by engaging outside expertise. The latter are more typically initiated by a commercial power developer who is willing to loan the necessary minimum 50-person partnership the money needed to form the co-op, and pays the members each a percentage (3 to 5%, typically) of the profits after repayment of the original loan. Doing so gives the developer the advantage of the extra community participation points needed to go to the head of the contract line, or even to submit a project under the 25 MW community power setaside. The practice is controversial, where people who have long been active in the sector consider that co-ops formed, financed and owned entirely locally, and where the profits are fully returned to the community, are the most effective form of community development. It can be hard to be sure without a close look at the co-op's business model, but the following list does not contain any following that model.
Co-ops
This list is a sampling only of some of the organizations out there owning power projects. Some, notably Windshare, which owns the 650 kW wind turbine at the foot of Exhibition Place in Toronto, date from the earliest days of community power. Some co-ops formed shortly after Windshare and later disbanded for lack of success. Most of the co-ops in existence today were set up within the last couple of years or so, in anticipation of the revised FIT program.
• SolarShare
Incorporated in 2010, SolarShare is a spinoff of the granddaddy of them all, TREC, the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (see below). SolarShare, now with over 500 members and $2 million in bond sales, currently owns 780 kW of solar energy capacity on the grid and has another 880 kW under construction, bringing the portfolio to almost 1.7 MW and $10 million invested in projects once these are complete, expected sometime in August. In addition, it hopes to purchase yet more FIT 1 projects this year and has been awarded FIT2 contracts for another twelve projects, for a total of 4.9 MW, announced in the OPA's July 3 list of awarded contracts. In fact, SolarShare announced July 8 that the new contracts would be making it the largest renewable energy co-operative in North America.
SolarShare owns 100% of its FIT1 projects, and for the the FIT 2 projects, some will be 100% owned while some will be somewhere between 51% and 100% co-op owned.
"We're already working on stuff under FIT 3," says President Mike Brigham.
• AGRIS Solar Co-op
Operating since 2010, AGRIS Solar is currently the largest Co-op in Ontario producing renewable energy with over 600 members, 6.2 MW of projects and $55 million in debt and equity financing for its projects.
• Green Energy Co-op of Ontario (GECO)
Formed in September of last year, GECO has received contract offers for 19 projects (out of 54 applications) in the OPA's July 3 list of awarded contracts, ranging between 10 and 500 kW, for a total of 7.5 MW of capacity. Membership shares cost $10.00, with preferred shares offered only to members. Investment opportunities are offered upon receipt of contracts. Members will be provided with a complete offering statement with any investment opportunity before any funds are required. The preferred shares will be available for sale to the existing 502 co-op members as well as new members after a formal offering statement is approved by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. GECO anticipates that approval in September.
• Zooshare biogas co-op
Unlike many others, the Zooshare co-op was set up to own and operate one facility, a 500 kW biogas unit that will produce power and space heat using waste from the zoo's animal population (and gain a saleable fertilizer byproduct, cleverly named "ZooPoo").
At least 1000 people will eventually finance and invest in the project through community bonds. This finance model was selected to spread out risk as most of the upfront project management costs to date have been incurred or provided in-kind by the founding partners.
• Fedsol
The June 2011 issue of IPPSO FACTO reported on Fedsol, a 250 kW PV project mounted on the roof of a pair of chicken barns in southern Ontario and the first project to be connected to the grid that had received early support money from the Community Energy Partnerships Program (CEPP). The OPA established the program, after a direction from the Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure in the fall of 2009, to facilitate the participation of Ontario communities in the development of renewable energy generation facilities, in particular to assist communities in paying for some of the soft costs associated with the development of renewable energy projects.
Service co-ops
• Active since 1998, TREC, the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-op, got the ball rolling with its first community-owned wind turbine, that looms over the Lakeshore Boulevard as it funnels tens of thousands of cars into downtown Toronto every day. TREC has spun off three other co-ops: SolarShare, described above; WindShare, which owns the Exhibition Place turbine; and Lakewind, which has been proposing a 20MW windfarm just east of Kincardine.
TREC is also a leader in policy development and advocacy. The organization focuses on those co-ops that fit into the OPA's community setaside, with 50% +1 or more ownership of the facility.
Associations
• Federation of Community Power Co-operatives (FCPC)
Formed in July 2012, the Federation said in its founding news release that the FIT program "has resulted in contentious debates over green energy in the province. Community participation in projects have long been a suggested solution, but community power proponents have had limited success to date. [The] new Federation intends to change all that under new FIT rules. ... By unifying the co-op sector under one umbrella, setting standards and sharing resources, the Federation expects to support at least 100 MW of community-controlled projects by 2015."
• Ontario Sustainable Energy Association
OSEA describes itself as "a non-partisan, member-based non-profit dedicated to inspiring and enabling the people of Ontario to improve the environment, economy and their health by conserving and producing clean, renewable energy in their homes, businesses and communities." OSEA plays a large advocacy and facilitation role in the sector.
OSEA has established a LinkedIn Community Power Collaborative Forum. The Forum is provided as a platform for participants to share opportunities on co-operative governance, common procurement, co-operation on member management and marketing strategies for the sale of co-operative securities.
• Rural Community Power Producers Association (RCPP)
RCPP promotes and supports the development of its members' projects. Member co-ops are Chatham-Kent, Haldimand, Lambton Shores, Teeswater, Niagara and Simcoe Co-operatives.
• There are also the Ontario Co-operative Association and the Canadian Co-operative Association, which develop policy, educate and advocate on behalf of Co-operatives generally.
Other second-tier organizations
• Options for Green Energy
Options for Green Energy is a non-profit business based upon the Options for Homes model (www.optionsforhomes.ca), which delivers "secure, cost-effective, ownership housing" and adapts it to offer a green energy investment opportunity. Options for Green Energy has helped set up four renewable energy co-ops: Hall's Pond, Queen Street Solar Co-operative, Guelph Solar Community Co-operative, and Green Temiskaming Solar Co-operative, each of which then applies to the OPA for one or more project contracts. Membership fees to join each of these vary, but members are able, but not obliged, to buy community bonds (minimum $5,000) that go toward project construction.
Options has been in business for three years.
In the July 3 list of contracts from the OPA, 4 projects have been offered contracts, for a total of 850 kW total: two with Queen St. Solar and two with the Guelph Solar Community Co-op, all of them under the community setaside. An application by the Temiskaming co-op was rejected at the DAT state. All together, the three had 23 applications in. Many of the applications that didn't make it will be resubmitted under FIT 3.0. Another of Options' projects, Hall's Pond, had an application for a $26 million solar ground-mount facility located in Guelph under FIT 1, which is on hold due to a rule change related to the agricultural class 3 land on which the proposed project is located.
Service organizations
• Toronto Renewable Energy Co-op
TREC, described above, has also developed a service branch to help mentor and support emerging groups. It has also built back-end custom software to manage co-op member investors, the Community Power Investment Management Platform. The program is currently hosted at TREC, and subscribing co-ops can log in to keep their membership and payments up to date.
• Community Power Fund
The Community Power Fund is a non-profit co-operative corporation that provides financial resources and programs to support a renewable energy economy that is owned, developed and governed by Ontario communities. The fund ran the Community Energy Partnerships Grant Program from 2010 to 2013 (now run by Deloitte). It also incorporated a Community Power Capital in 2012 to support community power projects during the construction period of their projects. CP Fund is working with the Ministry of Energy on the feasibility of extending the mandate of the Infrastructure Ontario Loan Program to the community power sector, to provide low-interest, long-term debt financing to eligible community power proponents. And it has a capacity building initiative to increase skills and knowledge within the community power sector to develop Co-operatives and generation facilities.
• Ontario Sustainability Services
Ontario Sustainability Services is a company spun off by OSEA, described above, in a merger with another company and offering services to the community sector. Ontario Sustainability Services provides "community-based solutions with a full service portfolio ranging from idea generation through governance and development, business planning and finance, permits and engineering, to overall project management and back office functions for co-operative organizations once the project is operational."
• Spark Solar
Spark Solar is a private company that works to help co-operatives get off the ground and then develop, construct, finance and operate their projects. Spark helped to start both AGRIS Solar Co-operative as well as the Green Energy Co-operative of Ontario and continues to provide management services to both of them. Similarly to TREC, Spark provides the infrastructure to help co-operatives operate with lower overheads, while still providing the professional management and transparency. Spark currently has over 22 MW of solar projects that it is managing on behalf of its community partners.
• IPC
IPC is a private business, a project management and development firm in existence since 2005 that helps with the development side of co-ops: forming the co-op, the articles of incorporation, the offering statement, and help through renewable energy approvals, through to construction. IPC has assisted with projects under both FIT 1 and 2.
Organizations using the MicroFIT program
• While the MicroFIT program involves only single installations of up to 10 kW, the business model of Pure Energies has an effect similar to that of renewable energy co-ops. Pure Energies will finance, install and own photovoltaic panels on residential rooftops at no cost to the owner, and share the revenue with the homeowner under the OPA microFIT program. After twenty years, the homeowner can take over possession of the installation for a purchase price of a dollar, and receive all the revenue. The panels are rated for a lifetime of 35 years. Pure Energies currently counts some 1200 installations in Ontario, for a total of about 6.2 MW capacity.
After starting up in Ontario in response to the Green Energy Act, the company expanded into the United States through two subsidiaries, where it has 3700 installations, for about 30 MW.