The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA www.ontario-sea.org) was formed to promote the concept of "Community Power Systems". The concept of community power and the key role of OSEA in this development is to facilitate the transition to a sustainable energy economy through the development and support of sustainable energy projects, scaled to the "right size" at the local level, assisting farmers, co-operatives and municipalities. This overview will explain the numerous advantages of Community Power.

 Why Community Power (6 MB)

Standard Offer Contracts

The small/community-based renewable energy sector did not participate in the Ontario Ministry of Energy’s 300 MW renewable energy Request for Proposal (RFP).  The RFP’s complex bidding process posed a significant barrier for farmers, community groups and other with small renewable power projects interested in helping the province meets its renewable energy targets.

As a result, the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA www.ontario-sea.org) was asked by the Ministry of Energy to examine the criteria for a pilot program offering standard supply contracts to small and community-based renewable power projects.  This report explains the value that small power generators can contribute to the province’s power and industrial manufacturing sectors.

 Powering Ontario Communities (2 MB)

Agriculture is well placed to produce and sell surplus power to the electrical grid through investment in anaerobic digester (biogas) technology.  Doing so benefits the grid in both reducing demand and increasing supply, and converts a sunk costs for manure handling into a revenue generating opportunity for the farmer.  This report, written by Nicole Foss and William Kemp of the of Synergy Biopower™ Consortium, explains the value of biogas systems from both the policy and agricultural points of view.

 The Potential Contribution of Agricultural Biopower Digesters (1.4 MB)