Recent Updates:

Monday, November 4, 2019 – Thank-you to everyone who attended GECO’s 2019 annual meeting. As discussed during the meeting, poor sunlight levels (irradiance), particularly in the Spring, resulted in lower than expected production in 2019. Details of the 2019 meeting can be found in the 2019 Annual General Meeting Minutes and 2019 Annual General Meeting Presentation documents on the “Docs & Forms” page of our website. For more information, including financials, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

GECO’s 2019 member distributions were announced during the meeting. Members should have received their first distribution in May/June. The second 2019 distribution was mailed out last week and should be received shortly.

Sunday, June 3, 2018 – Thank-you to everyone who attended GECO’s 2018 annual meeting. As discussed during the meeting, over the previous year, GECO’s projects produced lower than budgeted due to heavy rainfall resulting in lower than expected levels of sunlight. After accounting for the actual level of sunlight however, project performance was strong. GECO’s 2018 member distributions were announced during the meeting. Members should receive their first distribution this week or next and another is expected to be issued later this year.

Details of the 2018 meeting can be found in the 2018 Annual General Meeting Minutes and 2018 Annual General Meeting Presentation documents on the “Docs & Forms” page of our website. For more information, including financials, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Monday, June 26, 2017 – Thanks to everyone who attended GECO’s 2017 annual meeting. As discussed during the meeting, over the previous year, GECO’s projects produced slightly lower than budgeted due to lower than expected levels of sunlight. After accounting for this level of sunlight however, project performance was strong. GECO’s 2017 member distributions were also announced during the meeting. Members should have received their first distribution already and another is expected to be issued later this year.

Details of the meeting can be found in the 2017 Annual General Meeting Minutes and 2017 Annual General Meeting Presentation documents on the “Docs & Forms” page of our website. For more information, including financials, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Monday, May 2, 2016 – The 2016 Annual General is scheduled for May 16th. The annual meeting is taking place at Spark Solar’s offices, 1315 North Service Rd E, Suite 300, Oakville, ON L6H 1A7. Registration begins at 6:30p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:00p.m. We hope to see everyone there who can attend!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 – Thanks to everyone who attended GECO’s 2016 annual meeting. This was the first annual meeting since all of GECO projects have come online and we were able to cover some very interesting topics. Pictures of the completed projects were shown and the portfolio’s production performance and the co-op’s financials were reviewed. Perhaps the most exciting news from the meeting was the announcement of GECO’s 2016 member distribution.

Details of the meeting can be found in the 2016 Annual General Meeting Minutes and 2016 Annual General Meeting Presentation documents on the “Docs & Forms” page of our website. For more information, including financials, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Monday, May 2, 2016 – The 2016 Annual General is scheduled for May 16th. The annual meeting is taking place at Spark Solar’s offices, 1315 North Service Rd E, Suite 300, Oakville, ON L6H 1A7. Registration begins at 6:30p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:00p.m. We hope to see everyone there who can attend!

GECO’s portfolio has made great progress since the last general meeting. As of mid March, both of GECO’s 500kW ground mount tracking projects were online and GECO’s entire portfolio was generating electricity at its FIT contract rates.

The General meeting agenda will include general co-op business, portfolio’s performance, financials, and our expectations for the future.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015 – Thanks to everyone who attended GECO’s 2015 Annual Meeting, it was great to see everyone there. Highlights from the meeting included a review of the status of GECO’s projects, a review of the co-op’s current and forecasted financial position, and introduction of a potential project acquisition opportunity. For additional details, please see the AGM presentation and meeting minutes on the “Docs & Forms” page of our website.

Monday, March 23, 2015 – GECO’s 2015 Annual General Meeting is taking place tonight. The meeting will include: key aspects of co-op governance, presentation of the co-op’s financial results for 2015, and reports on the current status of the co-op’s portfolio. The annual meeting is taking place at Le Dome Banquet Hall, 1173 North Service Rd E, Oakville, ON L6H 1A7. Registration begins at 6:30p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:00p.m. We hope to see everyone there who can attend!

Monday, December 22, 2014 – GECO and its partners have finalized a $39 million debt facility to leverage their portfolio of solar projects. With this facility, GECO has become the first renewable energy co-op in Ontario to secure bank debt for FIT 2 projects.

Friday, November 28th, 2014 – November saw a number of GECO sites begin construction. Altogether, 6 sites are in progress, 1 in Ajax, 1 in Whitby, 1 in London, and 3 in Woodstock. Another 10 projects are scheduled to begin construction on a staggered basis between now and March, all of which are expected to come on-line by May. The 2 ground mount projects will begin civil work once the ground has frozen sufficiently and full scale construction will begin in March, lasting 4 months.

        

In other news, GECO’s project portfolio has changed. 2 projects totaling 350kW (150kW and 200kW) and  have been shelved due to landlord/building issues. A 400kW project has been added however meaning our portfolio now has 17 projects and 50kW more than we started with.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014 – Preferred Share Certificates will be sent out shortly. Please expect them in the mail in the next few weeks. If your investment is in an RRSP, the original document will be sent to the trustee managing your RRSP account. A copy of the certificate will be sent to you.

In general, GECO projects are moving forward as expected and as outlined in our offering statement. Debt has been arranged (though not finalized) and construction agreements will soon be signed with builders. All but two of the projects (the ground mounts), have been quoted under budget. The ground mount projects suffer from higher expected connection and civil engineering costs. These projects are still expected to yield a higher than required return and we are keeping an eye on these projects’ costs to ensure they stay that way.

As of today, 15 of our 18 projects have received their Notice to Proceed, 1 is waiting for its Connection Impact Assessment from the local utility, and the remaining 2 projects are not financially viable and will not be built (these 2 projects are separate from the ground mount projects mentioned above). Very little has been spent on these unviable projects and we expect their effect on the co-op’s returns to be negligible.

We are also investigating an opportunity to invest in an additional 1 to 1.5MW of FIT 2.1 contracts to add to our portfolio. These projects would be funded with existing equity but, if we decide to invest, we may need to raise additional funds.

Monday, May 12, 2014 – An election has been called in Ontario, scheduled for June 12, 2014 after the Ontario Liberal Party could not find enough support to pass their new budget. This election could effect energy policy in Ontario as the Conservative Party has indicated they will cancel the FIT program if elected.

This policy change, if it occurs, is not expected to affect any GECO projects. Under the FIT program, the OPA may terminate a FIT contract by notice to the supplier until  Notice to Proceed (NTP) is received.

To date, 4 GECO projects have received NTP, 7 have submitted their NTP requests, and the remaining 7 are waiting only for the Connection Impact Assessment (CIA) from the local utility before submitting their NTP request. All GECO projects except possibly two are expected to receive NTP before the June 12th election. The OPA has indicated they will continue the normal administration of contracts towards project completion, including processing NTP applications, throughout the election period.

The following GECO projects have received NTP:

Project Address	NTP Status
1875 Wharncliffe, London Ontario N6L 1K2	Approved
2290 Scanlan Street, London Ontario N5W 6G7	Approved
99 Ash Street, London Ontario N5Z 4V3	Approved
377 MacKenzie Avenue, Ajax Ontario L1S 2G2	Approved

Thursday, January 23, 2014 – GECO is holding is second Annual General Meeting at La Dome Banquet Hall, 1173 North Service Road East, Oakville.  Registration will start at 6:30 pm and the Call to Order will be at 7:00pm.

The AGM Meeting minutes and presentation from the meeting are available on our “Docs and Forms” page.

Nov and Dec 2013 – GECO is currently hosting Investor Presentations for our members across Southern Ontario.  These meetings are to discuss the opportunity available for members to invest in our 18 contracted solar projects.  Non-members are welcome to attend.  The meeting’s that have already been booked are as follows:

Friday, November 29, 2013 – Oxford County – Microtel Inn & Suites, 811 Athlone Ave, Woodstock –  7 pm to 9 pm – Investor Presentation and discussion on potential new FIT 3.0 Projects in Oxford County

Saturday, November 30, 2013 – Chatham – Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites – Bradley Convention Centre, 575 Richmond St, Chatham – 9 am to 12 pm – Investor Presentation and discussion on potential new FIT 3.0 Projects in Chatham

Monday, December 2, 2013 – London – Real Canadian Superstore (upstairs Meeting Room), 1205 Oxford St. W – 7 pm to 9 pm – Investor Presentation to discuss investment in existing 18 FIT Projects.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013 – Hamilton – Offices of Environment Hamilton – 22 Wilson Street, Downtown Hamilton – 11 am to 9 pm – Open “Drop-In” Session for members of GECO and HARE to have follow-up discussions in small groups or one on one.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013 – Burlington – Fortinos (meeting room), 1059 Plains Rd E – 7pm to 9 pm – Investor Presentation to discuss investment in existing 18 FIT Projects.

Thursday, Dec 5, 2013 – Oshawa – Real Canadian Superstore (upstairs Meeting Room) – 481 Gibb St – 7pm to 9 pm

Monday, Dec 16 – Minto (Wellington County) – Harriston Arena – 111 George St, Harriston – 7pm to 9 pm

November 19, 2013 – GECO had a very successful Investor Presentation in Hamilton for those interested in purchasing Preferred Shares in the Co-op.  Over 35 people were in attendance.  This presentation was co-hosted by the Hamilton Association for Renewable Energy (H.A.R.E.).  The proceeds from the sale of the Preferred Shares are to be used to invest in our 18 Solar Projects and are estimated to return approximately 10% average annual rate of return to investors over the 20 year life of the projects.  A follow up meeting was  scheduled for individuals or smaller groups to meet with GECO board members at the offices of H.A.R.E. on Tuesday, Dec 3 from 11 am to 9 pm.  Interested investors are invited to drop in at their convenience during these hours.  See more details about this meeting in the “Upcoming Events” section above.

Where:  Hamilton Room at the Hamilton Central Library (55 York Boulevard, Hamilton)

When:  Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm

October 29, 2013 – GECO has finalized discussions to have Concentra Trust, through their relationship with CWCF to be the trustee for any preferred shareholders that would like to have their investment in GECO placed in an RRSP.  Everyone’s tax situation is different, but most investor’s should be able to place preferred shares into an RRSP account if they wish to.  Unfortunately, they do not offer a TFSA option.

August 30, 2013 – The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has “receipted” our Offering Statement.  This document provides “Full and Plain Disclosure” of the investment in preferred shares being offered by GECO to its members.   The “receipt” of this document allows us to start raising money from our members to finance the development and construction of our 18 Solar Projects

July 5, 2013 – The OPA has awarded contracts on 18 of our Solar Projects for a grand total of 6,200 kW of capacity.  These 18 projects provide us with the critical mass we need to keep moving forward and we are presently writing up our Offering Statement which we will present for approval to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario by the end of July.

January 18, 2013 – The OPA closed the window for accepting applications under the FIT 2.1 program for Solar projects under 500kW.  We are pleased to announce that GECO submitted applications for 54 Solar projects for a grand total of 14 MW.  We expect to hear back from the OPA regarding the outcome of these applications by approximately May or June.  When the OPA starts to inform us as to the status of our projects, we will keep members informed.

Project Address	Submitted
1000 Clarke Road, London Ontario N5V 3A9	Waiting on Proof of Sufficient Funds to submit
970- 1020 Pond Mills Road & 25 Midpark Crescent, London Ontario N6N 1A2	Waiting on CIA
1875 Wharncliffe, London Ontario N6L 1K2	Approved
1655 Tricont Avenue, Whitby Ontario L1N 7N5	Submitted – Needs TCIA/TAA
35 Atlantic Court, London Ontario N5V 5H7	Waiting on Proof of Sufficient Funds to submit
5 Cuddy Boulevard, London Ontario N5V 3Y3	Waiting on Proof of Sufficient Funds to submit
2290 Scanlan Street, London Ontario N5W 6G7	Approved
105 Industrial Drive, Whitby Ontario L1N 5Z9	Submitted – Needs TCIA/TAA
99 Ash Street, London Ontario N5Z 4V3	Approved
982 Hubrey Road, London Ontario N6N 1B4	Waiting on Proof of Sufficient Funds to submit
377 MacKenzie Avenue, Ajax Ontario L1S 2G2	Approved