History of TREC

Now entering its twelfth year, the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative's (TREC) raison d'etre has expanded well beyond incubator and builder of the Ex-Place wind turbine and is today a sought after partner in a range of renewable energy initiatives. From community energy projects to energy education, the two streams of this not-for-profit co-operative enable the dissemination of unique insights, experiences and information that are needed in the transition to a sustainable energy future.

Using the highly visible turbine as its point of departure, TREC has been building its education program over the last seven years, offering, among many other things, tours of renewable energy installations. TREC's Green City Bike Tours take participants to more than eight green venues around the city, including the turbine and solar array at Ex Place and the Enwave deepwater cooling centre. In partnership with the Toronto District School Board, TREC complements the energy curriculum taught at various school levels by providing interactive, hands-on-learning activities at its education centre (the EcoPod) on the Exhibition grounds. In the 2008/2009 school year TREC reached more than 4000 grade 5, 7 and 9 students, many of whom have limited access to field trip experiences. To bring this unique educational experience to even more students, TREC introduced the Kids' World of Energy Festival in 2008. This annual event enables grade five students to learn about energy issues in a fun, interactive forum. New in 2009 is the launch of the Green Collar Career program, an initiative developed in partnership with the Toronto District School Board to expose high school students to the green energy sector through work placements and a career fair.

On the project development side, TREC is home to a solar neighborhoods initiative known as Our Power, which supports individuals (through a community approach) who wish to understand and install solar energy systems (hot water and photovoltaic) for residential application. This project is a fitting complement to a research project TREC carried out in 2007 exploring the potential for solar co-operatives in Toronto. To help disseminate the solar experience, TREC hosts periodic solar home tours and round table discussions, enabling participants to view solar installations and share their experiences. The solar energy co-operative idea (we call it Solarshare) is again in discussion with recent changes introduced by the Green Energy Act. We hope to get things moving on that in the coming months. Finally, TREC is also pursuing the development of a 10 MW wind energy co-operative in Bruce County.

TREC builds all its projects through creative, collaborative partnerships enabled by the experienced Board members that govern the organization. The knowledge, experience and dedication of TREC's Board and staff allows achievements that belie the organization's small size. TREC is keen to build more renewable energy projects, enable community members to participate and enhance energy literacy for people of all ages.