CEPP Education Grants Overview
July 19, 2011
Community Groups Across Ontario Receive First-Ever Renewable Energy Education Grants
The Community Energy Partnerships Program (CEPP) has awarded its first Education Grants to six successful applicants, including a project to help farmers learn about the benefits of biogas and a project to raise awareness of biomass in rural Northern Ontario.
CEPP Education Grants will help recipient organizations educate, build awareness and encourage local community engagement, participation and investment in renewable energy projects. The educational programs will begin being offered in August, 2011 and will be accessible at low or no cost to interested Ontarians.
The projects involve educational outreach to many areas of the province, including Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Peterborough, Cambridge, Woodstock, Lindsay, Cobden and Seeley’s Bay.
Among the funding recipients, Faith and the Common Good will engage hundreds of faith communities across Ontario in understanding the basics of small to mid-size renewable energy projects through a series of tailored workshops.
The Agri-Energy Producers Association of Ontario will lead farm tours of biogas facilities for farming communities from Ridgetown to Seeley’s Bay. Other recipients will work at a local level to deliver programs such as a biomass education project at Nipissing University in North Bay, or host a Community Renewable Energy Summit in Hamilton.
“These new education programs are a great tool to help communities understand the many opportunities that currently exist in Ontario to bring renewable projects to life,”said Deb Doncaster, Executive Director of the CP Fund.
A total of $483,004 was awarded to six applicants representing 14 partnering organizations. A total of 43 applications were filed by the June 3, 2011 deadline and the six applicants were selected from 31 applications that met all mandatory criteria. The applications were reviewed by two expert committees, which both included a fairness monitor.
A full list of the funding recipients and a summary of their programs is now available.
The Community Energy Partnerships Program is a program of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). On Nov. 26, 2010, the Ontario Minister of Energy directed the OPA to allocate up to $500,000 per year of the CEPP budget to provide grants to education outreach programs that support the community renewable sector.
Please Note: Project Grant Applications are being accepted on an ongoing basis.
Education Grant Objectives
Eligible organizations, proposing to undertake new, community power
education projects may be eligible for a CEPP Education Grant. CEPP’s
education grants will help build awareness and capacity among Ontarians
to participate in, or develop renewable energy generation projects in
their communities.
The objectives of the Education Grant are to:
1) To educate communities about the development of renewable energy generation facilities;
2) To encourage local community engagement, participation and investment
in renewable energy projects by increasing awareness of renewable
energy; and
3) To provide funding for education involving a diversity of technology types and geographic regions in Ontario.
How To Apply
First Call Closed - June 3, 2011
After reviewing the grant overview and rules, applicants may download the application form and guidelines and submit their application by email to: ceppeducationgrants@deloitte.ca. All applications must be submitted electronically and no printed copies are necessary or will be accepted.
Submitting Questions
Questions will be accepted by email at: education@communityenergyprogram.ca until May 20, 2011 at 5 pm EDT. Responses will be sent out and posted by May 27, 2011.
First Call Timelines Summary
| Start of Call for Applications | Friday, May 6, 2011 |
| Applicants’ Deadline for Questions | 5pm EDT on Friday, May 20, 2011 |
| Posting of responses to Questions | noon EDT on Friday May 27, 2011 |
| Deadline for Issuing Addenda to Education Grant Rules | noon EDT on Monday, May 30, 2011 |
| Application Submission Deadline | 5pm EDT on Friday June 3, 2011 |
Maximum Grant Amounts
| Grant Type | Max Grant | Description |
| Local Grant | $25,000 | Targets a local area, smaller projects generally involving a single venue or municipality |
| Regional Grant | $75,000 | Targets a region or the entire province, larger projects generally involving multiple venues or municipalities |
| Joint Organization Grant | $35,000 Local / $125,000 Regional | Same as above where there are at least two applicant organizations. |
Application Review
First, applications will be reviewed for eligibility and completeness. Then, applications will be evaluated based on the rated criteria and then rank the project relative to other projects that have applied in that round.
Applicants may be contacted for clarification on their application. Interviews will not be provided. The applications will be reviewed by an independent Review Committee, which is the decision making body of the CEPP, for the final decision. Review Committee meetings also include a fairness monitor.
Decisions
Applicants can expect to receive a decision notification for the first call in July, 2011.
Download the Education Grants Overview
The CEPP Education Grant Overview document is available in pdf format:
CEPP Education Grant Overview, v1.0.pdf
Next page: Eligibility Criteria