BurlingtonGreen will announce the development of what it calls “one of Ontario’s first community renewable energy co-operatives” at its November 23rd annual general meeting. The new company, BrightSky Power Community Solar Co-op, will enable people in Burlington to “invest in, and benefit from, solar power installations”.

“We are very pleased to announce the development of community solar energy in Burlington,” said Michael Yakimchuk, a member of BurlingtonGreen’s board. “The Ontario government’s Green Energy Act and its attractive Feed-in Tariff (FIT) rates ensure profitable returns from solar power installations. However, until now, not everyone could take advantage of the returns because they may not have the right type of roof or enough funds to put up their own system. BrightSky Power, through its co-operative structure, will allow almost anyone to participate at affordable investment levels.”

BrightSky Power was initiated by BurlingtonGreen, with assistance from the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA), and has been awarded a Community Energy Partnerships Program grant to begin developing the community-owned solar project.

“BurlingtonGreen is in negotiation with a number of area property owners, and we soon expect to be able to install up to 340kW of solar panels,” said Yakimchuk. “The installations will not only benefit co-operative members, but will also directly help the local business community by locally sourcing most of the roughly $2 million of development costs. And, last but not least, the solar project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 90 tonnes every year.”