June 28, 2016 – Last month we brought you news of Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) launching the Energy Partnerships Program (EPP), designed to encourage Indigenous communities, co-operatives, municipalities and public sector entities to participate in Ontario’s energy economy. The EPP is now open and accepting applications.

The program “encourages local partnerships, helps communities create economic development opportunities and supports a high level of local community engagement, participation and investment in energy projects”, IESO states.

The EPP consists of two funding streams:

1.) Partnership Stream

For Indigenous communities: funding for the legal, technical and financial due diligence work to develop partnerships on Feed-in Tariff (FIT), Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) and identified transmission projects.

For municipalities, co-operatives and public sector entities: funding for legal, technical and financial due diligence work to develop FIT projects.

2.) Project Development Stream

Funding for Indigenous communities, municipalities, co-operatives and public sector entities to assist with the soft costs associated with developing FIT projects, such as obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals.

This stream also includes a Remote Project Development Sub-Stream—available to identified remote First Nations communities (those that have been identified as uneconomic to connect to the IESO controlled grid)—to assist with costs for developing energy-based solutions to reduce diesel dependency in these communities.

The EPP builds on the success of its four separate former funding programs, IESO explains, which when combined have supported 776 projects and leveraged over $20 million in secured funding to date.

Click HERE to read more about how the former programs have supported Indigenous communities, municipalities, public sector entities and co-operatives in the design and delivery of renewable energy initiatives.

“Our funding programs have been very successful,” said Bruce Campbell, IESO CEO. “By evolving these programs to be streamlined under one set of rules and a consistent funding framework, the new Energy Partnerships Program will build on that success, and further strengthen the assistance available to applicants. For example, eligibility has been expanded to those developing multiple projects, and we have also expanded the eligible costs for community engagement activities.”

For more information about the program, rules and eligibility, visit www.ieso.ca/EPP.