The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley (BIBV) and the Bow Valley Green Energy Co-operative (BVGEC) worked collaboratively to bring people together to create community-owned renewable energy developments. Community generation projects can cost upwards of $1 million, rendering them relatively unaffordable. To address this financial barrier, BVGEC uses community financing to fund and install renewable energy systems for on-site electricity generation within the context of Alberta’s Micro-Generation Regulation. This twist creates an economically viable solution to community generation and provides opportunities for individuals to support local energy generation development. This project exhibited the viability of this model by installing a community-owned, micro-generation demonstration project on the Willow Ridge Community Association (WRCA) in Calgary. BIBV also offered educational opportunities to promote this model and engage the community in future projects.

Bow Valley Green Energy Cooperative (BVGEC) installed 26kW of solar panels on Temple B’nai Tikvah (TBT) in October 2023. The system:
- generate 30,000kWh of energy while offsetting 20teCO2 annually
- generate $57,235 in revenue ($9,500 ‘profit’) for BVGEC. $2,375 will be diverted to community projects; the remainder will be returned to investors.

To date, BVGEC has financed its projects slowly via a combination of individual community investments, BVGEC Member loans, grants and corporate loans. Due to the high upfront expenses associated with renewable energy projects, BVGEC intends to expand their sources of investment revenue to commercial investors.