First church in Ontario

To sell green electricity to the grid

Laidlaw Memorial United Church at 155 Ottawa St, Hamilton. Installed by Direct Current Renewable Energy Inc. of Brantford. 10kW system is up and running and live results can be viewed here.

Completed and connected to the Horizon Utilities grid on June 4, 2010, this is the first church in Ontario to be connected.

Direct Current Renewable Energy Inc. Company info:
Based in Brantford we have been in business for the past 3 years, and incorporated this spring to form Direct Current Renewable Energy Inc. ph: 519-758-6226.

Owners:
Dan Cole of Brantford, and Michael Triska of Hamilton. The head electrician has been installing PV systems for 6 years. 4 employees. Company specializes in assisting Non profits and charities in southwest Ontario learn about and take advantage of the OPA FIT and Micro-FIT program with their Power for Faith and Healing program.

As non-profit organizations are always looking for sources of income, we want to help them choose a clean, green and easy method to help fund whatever their mission may be. Churches, synagogues, temples, community centers, libraries all have the potential to be generating clean electricity which has benefits other than just fund raising. By increasing the supply of renewable energy to the grid, the demand for dirty coal fired electricity will decrease, helping slow the rate we are polluting our environment.
Right now, 100% of our electricity comes from Nanticoke, the largest coal fired plant in North America and the 5th largest toxic air polluter in Canada ...and its right in our backyard.

Power for Faith and Healing is designed to incorporate education, the environment and communities of different types, into one program that benefits all ...not just individuals. It is a turnkey operation including the initial project assessment, design and engineering, installation, connection to the grid and service.

One of the goals of this program is to get enough community based groups signed up to form a co-op that will increase our purchasing power and drive down the cost of the equipment, which in turn will shorten the payback period and increase the revenue of the participating organization.

If we get 20 groups installed at around 10kw each, we will be responsible for a reduction of 200 tonnes of CO2 per year.

By working together participants will be strengthening our community, helping the environment and at the end of the day, making money too'.

- Dan Cole, co-owner, Direct Current Renewable Energy Inc.