About
Island Community Solar Cooperative (ICSC) was created in 2017 by members of Energy Solutions for Vancouver Island (ESVI), a non-profit society that promoted energy efficiency and clean renewable energy in the region.
Our roots go back to May of 2015 when ESVI and the City of Nanaimo held a Solar Energy Forum in Nanaimo. This event was attended by over one hundred enthusiastic people aware of rapidly escalating BC Hydro rates and excited by the rapidly dropping price of solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment.
At a follow-up open community action plan meeting held in June of 2015, attendees voiced support for investigating bulk buys of solar PV equipment, initiating a solar co-op to promote residential installs, and initiating a commercial co-op to sell solar PV-generated energy and distribute profits to members.
Subsequently, a smaller, dedicated ESVI solar PV subcommittee was formed to develop an action plan. The committee chose to embark on two related community solar PV initiatives, a Solar PV Demonstration Program and the Island Community Solar Cooperative.
Become A Member
To empower individuals and communities in the Vancouver Island region to invest in transitioning towards a distributed renewable energy future by developing local solar projects.
Our Mission
For everyone to be able to participate in making solar power a significant contributor to energy self sufficiency on Vancouver Island.
Our Vision
OUR VALUES
As a business, ICSC is founded on the Three Pillars of Sustainability – social, environmental and economic benefits.
As a cooperative, we believe in seven key principles:
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Voluntary and open membership;
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Democratic member control;
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Member economic participation;
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Autonomy and independence;
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Education, training and information;
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Cooperation among cooperatives;
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Concern for community
We are committed to operating in ways that promote and advance social, environmental, and economic justice:
Our client outreach includes rural communities, First Nations and businesses/organizations that serve these communities.
Social Justice
We are committed to operating in ways that are good for the planet. Our low impact, decentralized solar PV power generation systems will reduce the demand on BC’s power grid, minimizing the need for future high impact large, centralized power generation systems, such as dams, and the need for additional transmission lines. This means we are helping to minimize the environmental footprints of society.
Environmental Justice
Our solar leasing program is meant to make solar an affordable option for those who may not have the cash to purchase a system or who may not be able to qualify for a loan to finance their solar system. Our solar leasing program is offered at no net cost to the client: the lease payments are equal to, or less than, what the client would pay for their hydro usage. Also, by becoming a member of ICSC, we give people an opportunity to invest in solar projects even if they are not able to have a solar system at their own home or work. Our goal is to make solar affordable and accessible to everyone!
Economic Justice
Island Community Solar Cooperative is a new social enterprise representing the changing needs and values of communities. We are a for-profit financial (investor) co-op, conceived to promote distributed, clean, solar electricity generation on and around Vancouver Island.
Our 2019 solar PV bulk buy-install program gave homeowners and businesses the opportunity to join together on the purchase of their solar systems and save up to 15% on the cost of a system.
Through our solar PV lease program, our end goal is to provide large community electricity consumers with a means of owning a solar PV system without an initial capital investment while providing green long-term Investors with a consistent and reliable return on their investment. We offer everyone a way to invest in solar and in return receive reliable and green financial benefits, whether or not an individual’s own home is suitable for a solar PV system. By investing in solar locally, we are helping Vancouver Island become more energy-independent. We currently generate only about 25% of the electricity demand we use right here on the Island. The rest is imported from the mainland via submarine cables.
We are currently assessing three attractive prospective client applications for our solar leasing program, any one of which could become our first member investment project!
What We Do
ICSC is currently in development. Until such time as ICSC is turning a profit, all directors will work on a volunteer basis.
Our Board Of Directors.
Ian Gartshore founded and led non-profit Energy Solutions for Vancouver Island for fifteen years, passionately helping educate Islanders about energy efficiency and advocating for Island generated clean energy as well as spearheading the formation of Island Community Solar Coop. Ian was also a driving force in the development of Nanaimo’s first car sharing enterprise (Nanaimo CarShare), which was later acquired by Modo. He holds a diploma in electrical-electronics from BCIT and owns an energy efficiency company called Shore Energy Solutions, Ltd. Ian is also a marriage and family therapist, a community animator, cyclist, champion of a healthy Earth, and lover of life.
Ian Gartshore
Founding Member/ President
Tim Benoit is a retired forest industry tradesman who has been interested in alternative building technologies and renewable energy systems since the 1970’s. A long time member of co-ops since his youth in the Prairies, he is enthusiastic to to bring those principles to assist in bringing solar electricity to Vancouver Island communities. Having been a volunteer tax preparer and investor for many years, he will bring financial experience to ICSC.
Tim Benoit
Treasurer
Don is a professional life and business coach and President of DreamCrafters, Inc., a global training and coaching company. He is also a Community Engagement Facilitator and founder of Transition Nanaimo, a local social enterprise which is helping prepare Nanaimo to be a sustainable, resilient and thriving community in the lower-energy, post carbon future that is coming. Transition Nanaimo is part of the global Transition movement, which has over 1,400 Transition communities in 50 countries. Don is also a volunteer instructor with Vancouver Island University’s Elder College where he teaches a course on “Global Challenges, Local Solutions”.
Don Giberson
Secretary
Our Volunteer Members
A founding member of Island Community Solar Co-op, Scot is a mechanical engineer with a BASc from UBC and 35 years of experience in the wood fibre/chemical processing, energy and municipal infrastructure sectors. In 2007 he launched SRM Projects Ltd. to pursue the development of renewable energy projects and has managed and engineered many developmental hydro power, wind power and tidal power projects as well as completing community energy and emissions plans for various BC First Nations. He also worked for Viridian Energy Co-operative as their special projects and safety manager, developing core management and safety systems to allow the coop to grow to its next level. With the help of a volunteer panel of subject matter experts, he assembled a comprehensive small solar PV system installation specification to support Energy Solutions for Vancouver Island’s Solar PV Demonstration Program as well as BC consumers and industry. Scot’s mission is creating community wellness and he is a strong supporter of social enterprise, gladly using his technical and business skills to help develop Island Community Solar Co-op.
Scot Merriam
Kurt earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA-Finance from the University of Illinois. After a 20-year career in corporate finance roles and entrepreneurship, he chose to work in the non-profit world. In particular, he wrote business plans for, helped found, and then manage two carsharing organisations: Hourcar in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota and, later, Nanaimo CarShare Cooperative, which after six years of independent operation merged in 2017 with Modo Carshare. Kurt’s desire to contribute to the community, his long-held feeling that deriving power from the sun seems just so plainly sensible, and his appreciation of the cooperative model brought him to ICSC. Today Kurt practices and teaches Tai Chi, helps Modo manage its Nanaimo fleet, with two brothers manages a long-time family farm in central Illinois, keeps up with nutrition and diet science, grows leafy greens at home, hikes, kayaks, and does his best to enjoy all Vancouver Island and Canada have to offer. Kurt and his wife Laurie immigrated to Canada from the US in 2009, by far the best joint decision they’ve ever made! He became a Canadian citizen in 2015 and especially appreciates that, for the first time in his life, candidates for whom he votes actually are competitive—sometimes even victorious!
Kurt Fischer
Kalie Gossen has been a member of Island Community Solar Co-op since its inception. She has an MSc in Molecular Biology and works for the Federal Government as a Patent Examiner of biotechnological inventions. She has lived in Nanaimo for over five years, settling here to be near family. Kalie is passionate about speeding up the transition to renewable and green energy in view of climate change, as well as improving self-sufficiency in local communities and the use of cooperatives to improve equity. She has a solar installation on her home and looks forward to having solar energy become more affordable and accessible to all.