Building Community Power CO-OPperatively: A Renewable Energy Summit



Thursday 26 January 2012

HHEAT Building Community Power Workshop Series 2012 in Halton Region!


Building Community Power Co-operatively Workshops 2012!

The HHEAT kicked off the first of a series of workshops for 2012, on Tuesday the 24th of January at the Oakville Town Hall. It was an engaging workshop with much discussion and interaction amongst attendees, the speakers and the HHEAT members.

Mr. Bill Thompson of Blue Green Canada, delivered the first half of the workshop where he reinforced the ideology of community power and it’s relation to renewable energy. He also spent some time explaining the principles and requirements of co-op development, making connections and had a lot to share from his professional background at Blue Green Canada and Environmental Defence. The second half of the workshop was presented by Mr. Martin Ince, a local Project Developer of M.K. Ince and Associates Ltd. His presentation was more focused upon how a working group can choose their potential site using both solar and wind examples and calculations to demonstrate his rationale. How to determine the suitability/feasibility of your site, site control and available technology and economics as well as the provincial legislation and acts that govern these actions were also looked at in depth via the use of some local maps and areas that were familiar to the attendees of the workshop.

At the end, there were much questions and concerns from the workshop attendees and each of the speakers and the HHEAT members, were able to address them accordingly. We encourage all participants to attend all workshops if possible so that they can learn as much as they can and truly benefit from this overall process. For 2012, we have four more workshops (two in Hamilton and two in Halton) left to come:


Come out to the HHEAT's Building Renewable Energy Co-operatives 2012 Workshop Series!


Financing Mechanisms & the Co-operative Model/ Business plan formation.

Learn about the various ways to finance (capitalize) a renewable energy co-operative and to secure the money that is necessary for project start-up. Harry French, Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA).

Learn business plan formation and the risks associated with a project and how the co-op model can address them.Graham Flint, Technical Specialist, HHEAT.

Halton: Tuesday, February 21st, 2012. Burlington Central Library from 6.00-9.00pm.

Hamilton: Thursday, February 23rd, 2012. Council Chambers Dundas Town Hall from 6.30-9.30pm.


Principles of Co-op Promotion & Maintenance

Learn the basics of developing the internal structure of your co-op’s team and the formation of the steering committee, members and the board of directors.
Learn also about co-op incorporation in Ontario, how to devise a marketing plan for your co-op and maintaining your co-op’s momentum and progress over time.

Peter Cameron, Co-op Development Manager at the Ontario Co-operative organization and Bill Thompson (Blue Green Canada).

Halton: Tuesday, March 20th 2012. Milton Sports Centre from 6.30-9.30pm.

Hamilton: Thursday, March 22nd 2012. Beasley Community Centre from 6.00-9.00pm.


If you have an idea or suggestion as to what you would like to see or learn more about within the HHEAT workshops, feel free to contact us directly. You can contact the Project Coordinator Anuja at here.anujar@gmail.com for more information or visit our HHEAT blog at http://hheathub.blogspot.com/.

No comments:

Post a Comment