Brent Kopperson

Brent Kopperson is transforming Canada’s electricity generation and distribution systems from highly centralized ones, dominated by non-renewable resources, to more decentralized, green and locally-owned systems. He is bridging social sector engagement and provincial level policy change to remove the structural barriers that have until now impeded the large-scale emergence of community-led and owned green energy sector. Brent is giving citizens the tools and incentives to become energy entrepreneurs, empowering communities across Canada to become self-reliant in energy-use and conservation.

Brent uses a combination of community engagement and policy change to enable citizens and communities to become conservers and generators of electrical generation installations, moving toward renewable energy investment. By transforming the electricity system into one where everyone can be a producer, Brent is helping to put electricity systems back into the hands of individual consumers, communities, and small-scale entrepreneurs at the lowest possible cost. He is implementing a model of Community Power by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear energy, preventing climate change, creating local jobs, encouraging entrepreneurial spirit, and economic opportunities.

Brent is working on multiple fronts to lay the groundwork for a transformed electricity system in Ontario. He is creating outreach programs and educational tools while removing structural barriers to policy change. In addition, Brent’s initiative catalyzes broad-reaching coalitions. He is working directly with Aboriginal communities, rural and urban cooperatives, farmers, and individual homeowners to implement small-scale electrical generation projects and instil a sense of collective grassroots power. Brent piloted his project in Aboriginal communities where he saw the greatest need, but also openness to this approach. He used the experience as a proof of concept and has replicated the approach to other rural and urban settings in Ontario.

Brent and the communities and organizations he works with are building community-managed windfarms and solar energy systems. He is creating a new movement where “green energy consumers-producers” are leading the sustainable development movement by investing in renewable energy systems in Canada. To ensure these groups continue to have incentives—economic, social, and environmental—Brent is also changing the infrastructure within which the energy sector operates. He has played an instrumental role in introducing the first Green Energy Act in Ontario, which is now setting the tone for other green energy legislation in provinces across Canada. He is democratizing energy production and making green energy accessible and widely distributed.

The concentration of electricity production and distribution with highly centralized generation facilities has created systems that are resistant to change. In Ontario, the energy matrix is dominated by large nuclear, fossil fuel, and hydro facilities, and electricity monopolies are obviously not thrilled about the idea of relinquishing autonomous control over the energy industry to community-based organizations. The efforts made in recent years to advance the cause of renewable power, energy efficiency, and the decentralization of energy grids have therefore not found fertile grounds to grow. Energy production was not always dominated by large producers, in fact, until the industrial revolution individual families and communities were the main energy producers. The rapid expansion of industrial electricity in the twentieth century led to the production and distribution of electricity falling into the hands of monopolies and oligopolies. Until recently, few examples of community-owned electricity production existed in Canada.

It is not just the grid technologies and tariff structures that are based on a centralized system, but also the legal, policy, and financial frameworks. It is this structure combined with Canada’s politically conservative attitude that has prevented progress being made toward a green energy strategy. Europe has been the leader in green energy with clear incentives to encourage development. It was after seeing the progress made in Europe that Brent started working to overcome the barriers in Ontario by changing policy and bringing back more community focused green energy production.

Across Canada, there are a number of barriers to a transition to renewable energy. Electrical systems in Ontario are designed for a limited number of large central generation sources with a one-way distribution grid to bring electricity from these large sources to homes and industries across the province. The grid technologies, tariff structures, legal, policy, and financial frameworks are all compatible with this centralized structure.

Driven by a desire to empower local communities and have more efficient and sustainable mechanisms to produce and use energy at the local level, Brent developed a way for them to regain control of and benefit from energy production. His model involves bringing green energy to communities, and creating dialogue between multiple stakeholders, including governments, communities, investors, and advocacy groups.

From the initial creation of the Windfall Ecology Centre in 1998, Brent has been pursuing small-scale energy production as a means of community development. He developed a cooperative model called Community Power, where a community creates and owns a fund to buy shares in a social enterprise, which produces energy. The model ensures that each project provides the community with democratic control, community ownership, and shared economic value distribution. The first attempt was on Georgina Islands where Brent had an existing relationship with the First Nations community. The ability to conduct this pilot in a relatively isolated environment allowed Brent to refine the methodology to eventually replicate it in other rural and urban settings throughout Ontario.

Compared to other commercial energy projects, the Community Power model can create two to three times the number of local jobs and 5 times the amount of local spending whilst retaining almost all the earnings within the community. For example, in 2003, the Pukwis Energy Co-Op was founded with a US$6M pilot project that managed to achieve a 10 percent reduction in energy costs. An additional six pilot projects consisting of 10 windmills with a 20 megawatt capacity will generate enough electricity to serve 7,000 homes and replace 15,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year. Once the renewable energy infrastructure is complete, the community will become entirely self-sufficient in its energy production.

The green energy sector is relatively new in Ontario and as Brent develops Community Power projects, various policy or regulatory issues inevitably arise. By founding several nonprofits, Brent has been able to overcome some entrenched policy and regulatory barriers. The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association and the Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance are two examples of organizations he has created that have assisted in developing the green energy sector. Brent and his colleagues were largely responsible for conceptualizing, advocating, and consolidating The Green Energy Act, a pioneering law passed by the provincial Government of Ontario. He also introduced a policy on Feed In Tariffs, which ensures that electricity from renewable energy projects is purchased at a rate profitable for small producers. These new regulations are the first of their kind in Canada and have since inspired other provinces to follow suit.

Although the Green Energy Act will help guarantee income, renewable energy projects typically involve large capital expenditures for the infrastructure. To alleviate this problem, Brent has worked with the financial community and founded the Community Power Fund to promote local power generation and in an effort to find long-term financing solutions. Brent’s organization, Windfall Ecology Centre, also provides expertise in project development, financing, construction, and operations to help local community actors manage and control this process. In addition, Brent’s leadership has motivated Ontario Hydro (Ontario’s largest energy provider) to develop technologies that incorporate some small-scale decentralized electricity into the grid.

To date, Brent’s organization has developed community-based renewable energy projects in six communities, and he has played a central role in a wide range of other initiatives to catalyze and expand this sector. Together, these initiatives will unlock a latent demand for green energy projects, increase community empowerment, and shift energy production from million dollar mega-projects to small community-driven projects. In 2009 there were around 100 community energy projects, which Brent is determined to increase to 200,000 installations over a period of ten years. These initiatives and new policies have turned Ontario into a leader in green energy practice in North America. Recent changes have already attracted a lot of attention from large investors, such as Samsung, who recently committed to invest CA$6.6B in the province of Ontario’s green energy sector.

It was in the 1980s as a young pilot that Brent realized the effects of air pollution. As he flew over urban centers across Canada, it was clear to him that air quality was deteriorating due to inefficient and unhealthy energy production. However, it was not until a few years later, when his life hit a low point that he faced a turning point.

Brent comes from a strong business sector background. He co-founded a telecommunication company that became the foundation of an entertainment merchandising company. Backstage Pass Inc. provided communications and marketing services to over 200 performance artists, including Madonna, U2, and Bruce Springsteen. Brent succeeded in achieving both wealth and fame, yet this career came to an abrupt end when he was the victim of fraud. Left with nothing, and in need of a change and some time to think things over, Brent took a job as a cemetery gardener.

Upon returning from work one day, Brent noticed a farm with a windmill and solar panel. Intrigued, he stopped to talk with the owner. With growing interest, he listened as the owner explained ways to reduce peoples’ ecological footprints through green energy. Since that day, Brent has focused his attention on climate change and the role of the Ontario energy sector. Soon after that conversation, Brent started working with individuals, communities, and the government to find solutions to environmental problems. The Windfall Ecology Centre was the first of a series of organizations he founded, aimed to promote green energy, empower the community, and change policy.