Municipality

In 2009, the Independant Electricity System Operator (IESO) introduced the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Program for clean renewable energy. FIT opened up a new economic development and revenue opportunity for municipalities and other public sector entities. Fast forward to today, the IESO is giving priority status to municipalities and other public sector entities with green energy projects.

The response by municipalities to the FIT program has been remarkable.

Green energy projects worth many millions of dollars in jobs and new revenue, are now going to the top of the IESO’s approval list if they have a municipal partner and a municipal site.

In the latest round of energy procurement by the IESO, 161 projects with municipal or public sector participation were contracted. These projects (42 megawatts of green power) represent more than $356 million in gross revenue to the municipalities and their project partners over the next twenty years. Imagine what your municipality could do with a share of this income. Right now, municipalities in Ontario are facing flat or declining assessment growth, operating costs continue to rise, and the cost to repair or replace municipal infrastructure keeps growing. In the face of these fiscal challenges, most municipalities are looking seriously at the FIT program.

Here are a couple of examples:

The City of Mississauga is renting otherwise unused roof space on three municipal properties to a solar company that will install and operate rooftop solar systems and pay the City an annual rent for this space.

The City of Brantford is doing the same thing. Brantford is putting their rental income from rooftop leases into capital reserve accounts to keep their arenas in good repair. Dozens of other municipalities are taking the same or similar approach with their windfall from solar power projects.

The Ministry of Energy (under Regulation 397/11) recently asked you to list your current and planned renewable energy projects in an Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan. These plans will be reviewed to see how your municipality is contributing to Ontario’s green energy economy. The time to act on Ontario’s green energy windfall is now. Icarus Power Generation Inc. (Icarus) would like to explore the opportunity to partner with your municipality. Icarus, based in Toronto, Ontario, has built nearly 100 rooftop solar projects in Ontario since its founding in 2009. This year Icarus is building over 1.5 MW of rooftop solar projects under FIT contracts awarded by the IESO in the last 12 months. Icarus’s success rate in securing IESO contracts is over 75% because of their approach to partnering with First Nations and with municipalities. Icarus would like to discuss working together with your municipality. We can accommodate an equity partnership opportunity with zero cash investment required by the municipality, or we can lease your municipal property and pay you rent as our landlord, or other partnership combinations that best fit your needs.