BVGEC - March 2020 Update
Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative
It has been 6 weeks since we introduced Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative (BVGEC) to over 60 community members at ArtsPlace in Canmore on Feb 11, and with the changes driven by the global COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like a lifetime ago.
The team at Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative wishes the best for you and your families during these uncertain times.
During the last 6 weeks, our team has continued to move our venture forward in the following areas:
Corporate/Administration- legal/regulatory requirements. Insurance, banking, board and cooperative governance
Financing-exploring grants, sponsorships, and bond/share offering options
Project Development- identifying new opportunities within the Bow Valley
Communication and Community Engagement Strategies
Network outreach- establishing connections, and contacts with other renewable energy cooperatives across the country, learning from their experiences
BVGEC would like to welcome Don MacDiarmid to our steering team/board of directors. Don is a chemical engineer and lawyer and has recently retired from the world of corporate law where he focused on the energy industry. Don is keen to apply his experience to support initiatives aimed at advancing the coming energy transition.
During our February engagement we targeted membership shares to be available in April of this year. Memberships will likely not be available until late April/early May.
We also indicated that we hope to have investment shares available for purchase by July of this year. While this may be possible, we appreciate that during this time of uncertainty, investment is not at the forefront of most individual’s minds and we will wait for an appropriate time to re-engage with the community on investment opportunities. Like most people, your investments and RSP’s may have followed the recent market in its downward direction. It is our intention to provide stable long term investment opportunities. The sun, wind and earths mantle, where our energy in derived, are relatively immune to market turmoil.
Written responses to questions raised during the February community engagement should be posted shortly on our website.
We currently have over 135 community members who have expressed interest in BVGEC. To gauge the level of membership and investment interest, we will be forwarding a survey to interested community members in the coming weeks.
The BVGEC team will continue to expend efforts on behalf of these individuals to bring this venture to fruition and achieve our objective to “Make renewable energy available and affordable in the Bow Valley”.
If you have questions, comments or would like to volunteer, you can reach us at connect@bvgreenenergy.org or bvgreenenergy@gmail.com.
Hoping that you will stay safe during this period of uncertainty,
Jeff Roberts
Chairperson, Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative
March 24, 2020 (Rev 2)