Our Story

The Bow Valley Green Energy Co-op (BVGEC) is a locally owned and volunteer-run cooperative; we leverage Member investment dollars to build community-owned renewable energy generation projects in the Bow Valley and throughout Alberta.

As a social enterprise, we are developing a grassroots movement allowing everyone to participate in and benefit from the renewable energy transition. By building community partnerships, we work to empower individuals, community groups, corporations and industries interested in pursuing carbon reduction and climate resiliency.

Our History

The concept for Bow Valley Green Energy came about in early 2019 when the Canmore-based Biosphere Institute imagined a ‘network of solar panels across our valley.’ Using funds from Energy Efficiency Alberta’s Community Generation Capacity Building Program, the Biosphere Institute undertook a feasibility study to find suitable locations for a community-owned solar project in Canmore. As part of this feasibility study, the Biosphere also began exploring community-based mechanisms to finance renewable energy developments.

During this process, the Biosphere Institute joined with local community members to form a small steering committee, which subsequently became the founding board of directors of Bow Valley Green Energy.

Learn more from the Biosphere Institute

A Community (Renewable Energy) Generation project is owned and managed by local citizens who invest in the project installation, sell the electricity generated to the grid, or in our case, to a host site, and share the profits. Projects can be any renewable or alternative energy source, including hydro, solar, geothermal or wind.
Participation in community generation projects allows Albertans to support renewable energy and generate local revenue.
Many households and businesses do not have access to renewable energy because they rent, live in multi-tenant buildings or have roofs that cannot host solar panels. Community generation allows anyone to help advance renewable energy through partial ownership of community-based projects.
Currently, most renewable energy generation projects are owned by corporations, and in the future, these projects may be increasingly owned by out-of-province corporations. Unfortunately, that means that profits could leave Alberta rather than remaining in our communities and benefiting local economies.
Community generation can encourage our local economy through regional job creation. These projects support the manufacturing, planning, consultancy, legal and grid connection industries during construction. In the future, additional jobs will be created to manage maintenance and administration.
Profits from community generation also support local community initiatives such as education on energy efficiency, facilitating residential renewable energy and environmental protection.
The Bow Valley is already feeling the effects of climate change. Climate models predict the average annual temperature in the Bow Valley will increase by 1.9°C in the next 30 years. Scientists anticipate that by that time, rain will make up more winter precipitation than snow, and wildfire smoke will fill our summer skies.
Renewable energy is one of many solutions available to us to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, here in the Bow Valley. Wind energy, solar energy and geothermal energy utilise inexhaustible energy resources that generate no pollution, do not deplete freshwater resources and require no major transportation infrastructure or fuel refining. Further, the electricity produced by these renewable sources offsets some of our electricity needs, reducing the need for carbon-emitting power plants. Each kilowatt we install helps to green Alberta’s grid and takes direct action on climate change.