Hello Ottawa!
 
My name is Dick Bakker. I am writing today to introduce you to the Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative (OREC): OttawaRenewableEnergyCoop.ca.
 
OREC was established in 2010 to give residents a chance to jointly own community power projects that will keep profits, electricity and jobs in Ottawa.  The Feed-in Tariff program of Ontario allows individuals, companies and communities to own and operate renewable energy electricity generation facilities, under long term guaranteed rates.  OREC was created to generate electricity under this program.
 
Every Canadian consumes electricity; OREC provides an opportunity to earn a steady return by owning a portion of clean electricity generation.  We only invest in renewable energy generation projects located in the City of Ottawa and funded by Ottawa residents.  We intend to offer competitive returns for these projects, ensuring that cooperative member’s money is invested profitably and to good purpose, both priorities are equally important to us!
 
In 2012, we conducted our first Preference Share offering and raised $991,000 over a nine week period.  This money has been invested in six local solar projects and our first dividends were paid in December 2013.
 
We are now conducting our second Preference Share offering (up to $1,250,000), which will be invested in two mid-sized solar projects (Samuel Genest High School and Dunrobin storage facility).  Details about the Offering can be found at http://ottawarenewableenergycoop.com/orec-is-now-accepting-investments
 
Please consider attending one of our next two information sessions in January; Jan 16th at Samuel Genest and Jan 23 at 71 Bank. The updated list of events can be found at  http://ottawarenewableenergycoop.com/join-us/upcoming-events/.
 
I invite you to review the information provided and consider how a small investment in OREC could have a positive impact on the local economy, help build community owned energy facilities that provide you with a fair financial return.   An investment in OREC will have a small but very direct impact on the greening of our electricity system, OREC members will be able to see very clearly where their money is being put to work.
 
Let me know if you have any questions.  
 
Best Regards,
 
Dick Bakker
C: 613-404-7712

What is OREC:

• A member based Cooperative that will own mid-sized Renewable Energy electricity generation facilities with long term contracts
• Created by experienced Ottawa business people who wish to make direct investments in electricity generation, with participation from other interested Ottawa residents
• Full transparency with low marketing and administrative costs as there will be no commissions paid to brokerages or other financial institutions
• Asset based financing in long term, local and clean power facilities, with relatively safe returns
• All profits, after operational costs have been covered, will be distributed to member investors
• All Members, Board members and Management must reside in Ottawa
• All OREC investments must be in Ottawa

 
OREC investment structure:

1. Membership Share:
   a.     Only residents of Ottawa may purchase a Membership Share at $100.
   b.     Each Membership Share provides lifetime membership, voting rights and the opportunity to purchase Preference Shares when offered.
   c.     It is not expected that the membership shares will earn a return, unless there are excess profits from operations.

If you wish to purchase a membership share visit http://ottawarenewableenergycoop.com/join-us/become-a-member/ and download the online application.   Payment of the $100 membership share can be done online (via PayPal) or through a cheque (payable to “Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative”) mailed to:

OREC
192 Rodney Crescent
Ottawa, ON 
K1H 5J9

      2. Preference Shares:

a.  Preference Shares can be purchased in $500 increments, with a minimum purchase of $2,500 to a maximum of $100,000 per member.
b.  Preference Shares are RRSP eligible, through the Canadian Workers Cooperative Federation (http://www.canadianworker.coop/funding/rrsp-program).  A minimum purchase value of $5,000 applies when done through an RRSP.
c.   A Preference Share is a capital investment in our portfolio of FIT (Feed-in Tariff) renewable energy projects, with 20 year contracts.
d.   Preference Shares are expected to pay a 5% dividend for 20 year periods based on the balance of your investment.
e.   Repayment of Preference Share capital begins in Year 6 and continues through year 20.  There will be no capital repayments for the first 5 years, thereby allowing OREC to build up a cash reserve.
f.    OREC will attempt to pay higher dividends as business operations allow.
g.   Preference Shares can only be redeemed early if sold to another member, as approved by the OREC board. 

• For more information, please visit our website: http://ottawarenewableenergycoop.com
   
• To learn more about renewable energy please read Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed: Stop making green power the scapegoat