Large Appetite for Small-Scale Renewal Energy Production in Ontario

The Federation encourages Min of Energy to Expand Procurement Target

The Federation of Community Power Co-operatives (FCPC), representing over 5,000 residents of Ontario who are members of green power co-operatives, would like to encourage the Ontario government to expand the Feed in Tariff (FIT) program to match the appetite for small-scale renewable energy (projects of 500 Kilowatts or less). The recent Small FIT 2.0 window for applications that closed on January 18th2013 was to release 200 megawatts (MW) worth of contracts (the Procurement Target). However, the OPA received over 825 megawatts (MW) of applications from community groups, First Nations, municipalities, school boards, health institutions, and companies. This response shows a strong interest in community-produced renewable energy and represents thousands of potential Ontario community investors. Expanding the procurement target to meet the appetite for small renewable energy production would stimulate local economies and improve participation of communities in the production of smart-grid renewable energy. Due to the lack of structure, the previous FIT 1 renewable energy offerings resulted in a large corporate investor response. The result was a sense of exclusion in communities across the province when residents saw major renewable energy developments undertaken in their communities with little or no local involvement. FIT 2.0 addressed this issue by prioritizing community-owned power projects. The realization of the public interest value of this is seen in the strong application response to it by community groups. The Federation of Community Power Co-operatives would like to encourage the Minister of Energy to direct the OPA to expand the Small FIT 2.0 procurement Target in response to the application appetite. This would give communities across the province the ability to participate in the development of renewable energy and create thousands jobs in this promising sector of the green economy. Sincerely,

Ambrose Raftis; Board Representative For The Federation of Community Power Co-operatives timto@parolink.net 705 544 7722