On July 11, 2012 the Minister of Energy issued a Directive to the Ontario Power Authority to allow greater access to feed‑in‑tariff (FIT) contracts for community based power projects.  The new rules will keep private sector projects in-check by ensuring 50 percent community based equity.

The Directive provides for priority to applications with a greater than 50 percent community equity interest held by a co‑operative where at least 50 or more members are local property owners, or where there is greater than 50 percent Aboriginal equity participation.  The OPA will offer contracts to these projects before offering contracts to other projects in the application window.

The OPA is also directed to amend the Community Energy Partnership Program eligibility requirements to align with the eligibility requirements for community projects under the FIT Rules.  The OPA shall allocate up to $1 million annually for education funding and capacity building.

The changes are great news for community power projects.  Iler Campbell LLP represents and advises organizations on a variety of community power projects.  For more information on this topic please contact us!

Filed in: Co-operative Law, Energy and Resources

Tags: CEPP, Community Energy Partnership Program, Community power, FIT, Ministry of Energy, OPA