From a Community Question to a Cooperative: The Founding of BVGEC

Every organization has a starting point. For Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative, it was not a solar panel, a building or a major investment. It was a question.

Could the Bow Valley create renewable energy projects that were owned by the community, built for the community and capable of keeping their benefits here at home?

In early 2019, the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley set out to find an answer. Alongside its project partners, the Institute launched a feasibility study to explore whether a community-owned solar project could work in Canmore. It was an ambitious idea, but one rooted in a simple belief: the people who live here should have a meaningful role in shaping our energy future.

The study looked at the practical questions first. Were there suitable locations for solar installations? Could projects be financed locally? Would residents support a cooperative model? Could community members who did not own a suitable roof still participate in renewable energy generation?

But behind those technical questions was something more personal. People across the Bow Valley cared deeply about climate change and wanted a way to take action close to home. Many were ready to support renewable energy, but not everyone could install solar panels on their own property. Some rented their homes. Some lived in condos. Others faced financial or physical limitations.

A community-owned model offered another path. Instead of asking every person to solve the problem alone, it created an opportunity to build something together.

From a Study to a Steering Committee

As the feasibility study progressed, the Biosphere Institute brought together a small steering committee of local residents. The group began investigating possible host sites, community financing options and the cooperative structures already working in other parts of Canada.

There was no ready-made roadmap for building a renewable energy cooperative in the Bow Valley. The committee had to learn from organizations that had gone before, understand Alberta’s regulatory environment and determine what community ownership could look like here.

This was careful, patient work. Long before any panels could be installed, there were conversations, meetings, research, policies, financial models and relationships to build.

Over time, the steering committee began to take on a clearer form. What had started as a feasibility study was becoming a community organization with its own purpose and direction. That group would eventually become Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative.

Introducing the Idea to the Community

On February 11, 2020, the emerging cooperative invited the community to artsPlace in Canmore to hear what had been learned and what could come next.

The community launch was BVGEC’s first opportunity to formally introduce itself to the Bow Valley. It brought neighbours together in one room to talk about renewable energy, cooperative ownership and the possibility of investing directly in projects located within their own communities.

Representatives from the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, the Town of Canmore and the newly formed cooperative shared the results of the feasibility work. They explained how a cooperative could function, how potential projects might be developed and how membership and investment opportunities could eventually allow residents to participate.

Just as importantly, the evening created space for questions.

People wanted to understand the risks, the economics, the technology and the responsibilities that would come with building a cooperative. They wanted to know where projects might be located and who would benefit from them. Those questions were not an obstacle to the process. They were part of it.

A community-owned organization should be shaped by the community it serves. That first public conversation helped BVGEC understand what people cared about, what they needed to know and what it would take to earn their confidence.

The original presentation, event recording and audience questions remain part of BVGEC’s history. Together, they offer a snapshot of an organization at the very beginning, before its first completed project, power purchase agreement or investment offering.

Becoming an Official Cooperative

Three months later, in May 2020, BVGEC reached another defining milestone: Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative was officially incorporated.

Incorporation may sound like an administrative step, but it changed what was possible. It transformed a promising local idea into a legal entity capable of entering agreements, raising community capital and developing renewable energy projects.

It was also a commitment.

By forming a cooperative, BVGEC chose a structure built around participation and shared benefit. The organization would not be owned by a distant corporation or directed solely by outside shareholders. Its members would have a voice in its future, and its projects would be developed with the long-term interests of the community in mind.

That milestone was made possible by many people and organizations who shared their experience generously. The Alberta Community and Co-operative Association, Alberta Solar Co-op, Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative, Solar Power Investment Cooperative of Edmonton and SolarShare all offered guidance as BVGEC found its footing.

Their support demonstrated something that continues to define the cooperative movement: communities do not need to begin from scratch. Knowledge can be shared. Lessons can travel. One cooperative can help another turn a hopeful idea into something practical and lasting.

Building the Foundation

After incorporation, the work continued. BVGEC began finalizing its bylaws, strengthening its governance and assessing its first project opportunities.

Much of that early work happened quietly. It did not produce electricity or put visible panels on a roof, but it established the foundation every successful project would later depend on.

There were agreements to develop, host organizations to engage and financial models to test. The cooperative needed to become something that community members, building owners, investors and project partners could trust.

This groundwork ultimately led to BVGEC’s first power purchase agreement, its first host site and its first completed solar installations. Every one of those milestones can be traced back to the people who gathered around a table in 2019 and decided that a community-owned energy project was worth exploring.

What Community Ownership Makes Possible

BVGEC was founded because local people believed renewable energy could do more than produce electricity.

It could give residents a direct way to participate in climate action. It could support Alberta installers, electricians and contractors. It could help local organizations access solar energy without carrying the full cost of a system alone. It could create investment opportunities connected to real projects in the places people know and care about.

Most importantly, it could keep more of the value created by renewable energy within the community.

That idea remains at the heart of BVGEC today. The cooperative has grown beyond its original steering committee and first public meeting, but the purpose has stayed remarkably consistent: bring people together to build practical renewable energy projects that benefit the Bow Valley and beyond.

The story of BVGEC is ultimately a story about what can happen when a community decides not to wait for change to arrive from somewhere else.

It started with a feasibility study. It grew through countless volunteer hours, thoughtful questions and generous partnerships. It became official when the cooperative incorporated in May 2020. From there, it moved one agreement, one host site and one rooftop at a time.

Every project in BVGEC’s portfolio carries a piece of that original question with it. Can a community come together and build a cleaner energy future of its own?

The answer is now written across rooftops throughout the Bow Valley.