Transition Brockville              

The Community Power Fund intends to provide a number of financing instruments to support community power, including grants, loans and investment equity. To begin, the Fund will use the $3 million in seed money contributed by the Government of Ontario to disburse two rounds of grants, one in 2007, the second in 2008.

Our New Guidelines and Application Forms are Here!

Following our first round of funding, we have made some changes to the Application Guidelines and Forms in hopes of streamlining the process. We have also added a new Pre-Feasibility Grant program to support projects that are in earlier stages of development, and made all of our grant programs open. This means that you can now apply to any grant Community Power Fund grant program at any time. The new information, Guidelines and Application forms have been posted below.

Funding Priorities

The Fund Board believes that the best support it can offer to the community power sector at this time is to support those projects that have the greatest likelihood of increasing the installed capacity of community power over the next few years.

One of the key criteria for assessing applications is the degree to which the proposed project will be built within the next few years. This means that most funds will be directed to projects that are at more advanced stages of development. This does not necessarily mean that funds will go primarily to the most advanced projects as some may be in the so-called 'Orange Zone' or may have had their Connection Impact Assessment revoked. Rather, it means Funds will go primarily those projects that are beyond the feasibility phase and can identify and show proof of a fairly clear path to success.

The Fund will strive to support projects representing a diversity of communities, organizational models, technologies and goals (financial, social, environmental). The Fund will give priority to wind, solar thermal and photovoltaic, small hydro and geothermal over and above biogas as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recently announced a new $9 million Fund for bio-energy projects including biogas.

Grant Profiles 2007

Our first round of Funding was a great success! We are excited to announce that the Community Power Fund Board approved the disbursement of grants to 14 different organizations pursuing various different Community Power projects!

Profiles on each of the successful applicants have been included here. To see our January 2008 press release announcing the success of our first round of funding, see below under "Press Releases."

Windfall Ecology Centre, in partnership with the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, is working on a 20 MW wind project to be situated on Georgina Island. The Fund Board of Directors approved a $300,000 3 year project development grant.

Windy Hills Caledon is a not-for-profit organization based in the Caledon area. They plan to use a co-operative based share model to capitalize their 10 MW, 5 turbine wind project. The Fund Board of Directors approved a $300,000 3 year grant.

The Campbellford-Seymour Community Foundation (CSCF) is working with the Wildside Foundation to develop a 3 MW small hydro project at Teddy's Falls. The Fund Board of Directors approved a $300,000 3 year grant.

Barrie Windcatchers is a co-operative group working in the City of Barrie to erect a 1.5 MW turbine at the City of Barrie's Sandy Hollow landfill. The Fund Board of Directors has approved a $25,000 feasibility grant.

Local Initiative For Future Energy (LIFE) is a co-operative working within the Waterloo-Wellington region to develop a wind power project in the St. Agatha area. The Fund Board of Directors approved a $5,000 pre-feasibility grant.

Next Generation Energy Alternatives is a non-profit organization proposing to install a 2 kW solar photovoltaic system on a downtown Toronto condominium or housing co-op. The Fund Board of Directors approved a $5,000 grant to complete feasibility work for the project.

The Norfolk Federation of Agriculture (NFA), in partnership with Farmers for Economic Opportunity (FEO), are working toward a 10 MW wind project in the Simcoe and Norfolk county area. The Fund approved a $5,000 grant to complete their pre-feasibility study.

The Renewable Energy Cooperative North (TREC North) is a co-operative working in partnership with the Municipality of Temagami on a wind project at Friday Lake, Temagami. The Fund approved a $25,000 feasibility grant.

Windshare Co-operative is a for-profit wind power co-operative based in Toronto. The Fund approved a $10,000 feasibility grant for Windshare to explore the possibility of a second turbine at Exhibition Place, Toronto.

Windward Co-operative Homes is a co-operative housing community in Toronto consisting of 101 households. The co-op plans to install a solar thermal system on their building to help offset natural gas use for hot water heating. The Fund approved a feasibility grant for $11,850.

BlueWater AgriWind is a group of 13 farmers and landowners in Lambton County, working collectively to build a 50-70 MW wind farm on their land. Their projects are now facing a challenge due to lack of distribution grid capacity. The Fund has approved a $25,000 strategic opportunity grant to assist overcoming this barrier.

M'Chigeeng First Nation of Manitoulin Island has been working toward a 10 MW wind project on the Island. The Fund approved a $25,000 grant to assist overcoming the barrier of a shortage of distribution grid capacity in their area.

Walpole Island First Nation is working on a 10 MW wind farm that will be located on St. Anne's Island in Lake St. Clair. The Wind Catcher Project is facing a challenge due to lack of grid capacity. The Fund has approved a $25,000 strategic opportunity grant to help overcome this barrier.

Wikwemikong First Nation, located on Manitoulin Island, has been working on a 30 MW wind project. The project is currently facing a barrier due to a shortage of distribution grid capacity on Manitoulin Island. The Fund approved a $25,000 strategic opportunity grant to help overcome this barrier.