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 for its long history of advocating and removing barriers to growth for Ontario’s sustainable energy industry.

Since its founding, OSEA has contributed to critical policies and milestone legislation affecting the province’s sustainable energy industry.

OSEA was instrumental in the development of Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP), which was launched by the Ontario Power Authority in 2006. This program made it easier for small renewable energy-generating facilities to participate in the electricity system.

A longstanding champion of community power, OSEA launched the Community Power Fund in 2007 to provide grants to Ontario communities for renewable power projects. The association also created the Community Power Services Group to help these communities in the early-stage development of renewable energy initiatives.

As a founding member of the Green Energy Act Alliance in 2008, OSEA played a pivotal role in the development of the province’s Feed-in-Tariff Program, launched in 2009. The program encouraged greater use of renewable energy sources for electricity-generating projects in Ontario. The FIT Program was among North America’s first comprehensive guaranteed pricing structures for renewable electricity production.

OSEA remains an important industry connector among a variety of sustainable energy stakeholders, promoting dialogue and creating new platforms to help elevate promising new clean technologies and companies.

For example, OSEA collaborated with the World Wind Energy Association to jointly host the 7th Annual World Wind Energy Conference, an international exhibition that showcased community power in Kingston. OSEA followed up by hosting three subsequent Community Power conferences, and an All Energy conference in 2014.

OSEA launched its Powering for Prosperity gala in 2011 to recognize successful projects and industry leaders in the sustainable energy sector, and subsequently hosted several more.

In 2012, OSEA launched Green Energy Doors Open—its signature annual event—which brings together sustainable energy technology members, professionals, and students, and showcases promising new clean technologies and companies.