The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) is dedicated to advancing a sustainable energy economy with thriving small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and green jobs. OSEA is a non-partisan, member-based, non-profit with a long history of advocating for clean energy on behalf of Ontario’s sustainable energy sector. OSEA works to remove barriers to growth for sustainable energy SMEs as a Designated Intervenor with the Ontario Energy Board. OSEA supports climate mitigation by promoting energy efficiency with the building stock and grid in Ontario. Our programs educate and foster collaboration among sustainable energy stakeholders, which includes the annual Green Energy Doors Open (GEDO) conference that showcases promising clean energy companies and technologies by selecting winners in different clean energy sectors for industry-wide recognition.

How We Do It:

Educate: OSEA provides content rich webinars and workshops featuring emerging themes in the rapidly evolving sustainable energy industry

Support: OSEA hosts its annual showcase, Green Energy Doors Open, that publicly recognizes promising SMEs working with emerging clean technologies in Ontario

Advocate: OSEA engages with government and clean energy stakeholders to improve access to the grid, accelerate deployment of distributed energy resources, and improve energy efficiency 

Our Story

The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) was established in 2001 as a non-partisan, member-based, non-profit dedicated to advancing a sustainable energy economy in Ontario. OSEA has built a reputation for credibility, technical analysis and consensus building among stakeholders through its long history of advocacy and removing barriers to growth for Ontario’s sustainable energy industry. OSEA has become an influential advocate for energy efficiency, climate mitigation and sustainable communities.

OSEA has contributed to critical policies and milestone legislation affecting the sustainable energy industry in Ontario over the past two decades. For example, OSEA was instrumental in the development of Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) launched by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) in 2006. As a founding member of the Green Energy Act Alliance in 2008, OSEA created a coalition—comprising farmers, First Nations, union workers and environmentalists—and played a pivotal role in the development of the Feed-in tariff (FIT) program launched in 2009.

OSEA has been a longstanding champion of community power, where community residents have a significant stake in the ownership, development and control. In 2007, OSEA launched the Community Power Fund to provide grants to Ontario communities for power generation projects, which included rural and indigenous communities. OSEA subsequently created the Community Power Services Group to assist these communities in the early-stage development of renewable energy initiatives. 

OSEA is an important industry connector among a wide variety of sustainable energy stakeholders to promote dialogue and create new platforms to elevate promising new clean technologies and companies. For example, OSEA collaborated with the World Wind Energy Association to jointly host the 7^th Annual World Wind Energy Conference, an international exhibition that showcased community power in Kingston, Ontario, in 2008. OSEA followed up by hosting three subsequent Community Power conferences and an “All Energy” conference in 2014. 

In order to recognize successful projects and industry leaders in the sustainable energy sector, OSEA launched its first “Powering for Prosperity” gala events in 2011, and subsequently hosted seven additional gala events. In 2012, OSEA launched the Green Energy Doors Open (GEDO) to showcase promising new clean technologies and companies in Ontario. GEDO has become OSEA’s signature annual event that gathers sustainable energy stakeholders and recognizes Ontario companies with promising clean technologies by showcasing the winners from different sustainable energy sectors. In 2021, GEDO showcased winners in up to ten distinct sustainable energy areas. Additional information can be found here.

OSEA plays another critical role in the sustainable energy industry as a designated Intervenor status with the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), held since 2016.  As an Intervenor, OSEA is permitted to actively participate in OEB meetings, which it does with the assistance of Willms & Shier LLP, in order to remove barriers to growth for sustainable energy companies and to ensure a greener and healthier community for Ontario residents. For more detailed  information about OSEA’s filings with OEB, click here.

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