What do sub-prime mortgages have to do with Atlantic Salmon, SUVs and globalization?
They all depend on cheap oil, but oil is peaking.
So you can count on the price at the pump going up.
And as transportation costs rise, so will the cost of our food.
That means that we have to wean ourselves from fossil fuels and re-engineer our lives
to adapt to a world of growing energy scarcity.
The good news is your neighbors and your neighborhood are about to get a lot more important
in the not too distant future.
Margaret Mead, a famous anthropologist, once said,
"Never underestimate how a small group of thoughtful people can change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has!"
That's where community power comes in.
Thinking and acting locally is the only way that we are going to able to
address the issues facing us today and generations to come.
We have significant challenges in front of us.
CO2 emissions are pouring into the atmosphere.
If the global climate warms beyond an average increase of 2 degrees,
the impact will be far more devastating than we can imagine.
Community power and the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) is a way for people
to share adversity and decide what to do about it
while creating economic benefits.
The Green Energy and Green Economy Act is unlike anything else in North America.
It created the framework for a cross-section of communities to come together
and created the infrastructure to turn vision into action.
We are faced with two paths:
The Hard Path: centralized production of energy with continuous consumption and limitless growth;
or the Soft Path: local production of energy, locally owned with resilient and sustainable communities.
We need to make a choice of which direction we want to take.
The Hard Path is more of the same, and leads to irreversable consequences.
We need to make this choice together to decide on the vision we want for our community.
And to take action on what we want to create together.
The greatest challenge is about leadership.
Finding those people in the community who have the passion
and who want to make a difference.
That is where YOU come in.
If you are a local guy, girl, a local group,
a church, or a municpal leader, who sees the benefit
of community power and you want to build community resilliancy.
But where to start?
That is where we at OSEA come in.
with our roadmap for getting your community power project from vision to reality.
OSEA's Roadmap To Success Workshop will take you on a deep dive
into the roadmap tools and techniques.
We will create a project in your community
and help you develop an action plan
to bring it from vision to reality.
The Community Energy Partnership Program (CEPP)
offers a 90% grant on eligible activities
that have the technical, financial and governing feasability of a community project.
And the Act changed the Cooperatives Corporations Act
to allow for the creation of a renewable energy cooperative
as a means to encourage community involvement.
Fun, challenging, paving the way for community-inspired actions
to save the planet.
It's a reason to meet your neighbors throughout your community.
It's a way for all of us to literally invest in the future.
You'll be able to actually buy a share in the development
from a community-operated renewable energy cooperative.
You'll be a member of a democratically-controlled investment opportunity
who's primary role, after return to investors, shareholders, members,
is returned to the community.
Supporting community sports, cultural, environmental, and other philanthropic activities.
Is a renewable energy cooperative the right model for YOUR group?
This is important to decide, as it will influence how you raise capital for the project.
A 250 kilowatt solar PV can cost up to one million, five hundred thousand dollars.
That's a big investment for a community.
A 2 megawatt wind project can be four to five million.
But communities are doing it.
And sharing the investment opportunity locally,
rather than with the ups and downs of the Stock Market.
The same process is applicable to other renewable energy technologies.
Now you are ready to submit your CEPP application.
This will help you understand more of the technical, financial, and governance options.
Through the OSEA Community Power Services Group, we can assist you through the application process
as well as help you to manage your project.
The Workshop will connect people with passion in the community
with organizations and people with assets
that can accommodate renewable generation projects:
municipal buildings, hospitals, brownfield sites, used landfills, quarries, business rooftops.
Once you've found the heart and mind of the community,
then there is nothing stopping you from moving your project forward.
And what do you know? Other things start to happen:
you begin to drive less,
shop locally,
get to meet new people,
build a community energy plan,
influence local politicians on environmental matters.
You have the capacity to act locally and think locally.