Community Owned Power

Here are some useful links showing what other communities have done and are doing in this area of taking care of their own energy needs. I looked at quite a lot of sites and have picked these as some of the gems. I havent read any of them in detail - I am a generalist :) but hope that you will find some of this useful as the process matures and we move it forwards into the real world.

I sense from the quick perusal, that this is very do-able and that others have shown the way to move projects like this forward steadily, and that each step is a step closer to realising the vision of an island that takes responsibility for its own energy needs. It is an evolving process.

Enjoy . . . .

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Grassroots organizing for organizing for community energy self-sufficiency - Minnesota. This PDF document begins by describing how it all began and is very heartening as it shows the true grass roots nature of the project. As you scroll down you get a mix of information, some of it specific to their situation, but then lots of photos which tell the story in very human terms - very inspiring!

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TREC (Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative) has learned that it is not easy to be an innovator in a field dominated by long-established organizations, many of whom saw TREC’s vision as challenging. TREC has learned that several considerations are important in bringing about change in the face of opposition:

• You must be able to communicate clearly your exciting vision;
• You need committed people, often volunteers, who share a common vision and get along well with each other;
• You need to communicate your vision to everybody who has a stake in your project, including citizens groups, government agencies, and private sector companies;
• You need to be creative in presenting your message, in making partnerships with other agencies who share your vision, in using the media to get your message out to the public, and in presenting your case to organizations who may be sceptical or even oppositional;
• You need to build a network of influential persons and organizations which will support you in your pursuit of your goals;
• You need to be prepared to "hang in" for as long as it takes to accomplish your goals;
• You need to be true to your principles and vision;
• You need to have in your membership, the diversity of skills required to put in place your vision: technical, management, communications, legal, financial, environmental and community-outreach skills are all required.

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The only mains-connected community owned wind farm of its kind in the UK was launched on Friday 21 January 2005, by the Isle of Gigha, which is itself community owned.

In recognition of the importance of the project for the future of the island ‘the Dancing Ladies’, as the windmills have been dubbed by the islanders, were switched on by local school children...

... Whilst wind farms are often deeply contentious, the decision to go ahead in Gigha was made by the islanders in a unanimous show of hands by islanders in the village hall.

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Ontario's 1st community-owned wind farm. This talks about Canadian legislation that was implemented to promote community power generation projects of 10 MW or less. It shows an example of a letter that was drafted to help citizens communicte their needs to the lawmakers.

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Some detailed news about the efforts and approach of a collective promoting wind generation. Some items talk of the public meetings and others of the methods of funding the projects, such as sales of shares.

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Ontario Sustainable Energy Association describes lots of individual projects that are on the go. There is a brief summary of each one and a link for more information and contact details. Looks like a wealth of useful information here.