Help residents make better home energy decisions together.

Why community leadership matters

Most homeowners are not opposed to solar or home electrification. They are overwhelmed. They need trusted information, a clear process, and confidence that they are not being pushed into a bad deal.

Community leaders can help create that trust by convening residents, setting expectations, and insisting on transparency.

How leaders can help

• Share the registration page with residents
• Host or promote an information session
• Help identify suitable blocks or clusters of homes
• Review vendor evaluation criteria
• Encourage openness, fairness, and no-commission referrals
• Help document lessons for other communities

This work aligns with Ottawa's own commitments

Neighbourhood energy pilots are not separate from municipal climate goals — they are a practical way to deliver them at the street level. Community leaders can point to these plans when making the case for local action.

• Climate Change Master Plan Ottawa's framework for reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience across the city.
• Energy Evolution: Ottawa's Community Energy Transition Strategy Ottawa's long-term strategy for transitioning to clean, affordable energy — with a specific focus on buildings, transportation, and local energy systems.

Principles

• Resident-led
• Vendor-neutral until proposals are reviewed
• No hidden commissions or referral fees
• Transparent criteria and trade-offs
• Plain-language education
• Open documentation so other communities can reuse the model

Why a neighbourhood approach?

In a recent episode of Volts, clean energy investor Steve McBee argued that residential solar has been made “more difficult by the way that we have organized the market.” High customer acquisition costs, fragmented demand, and inefficient sales models can make rooftop solar more expensive than it needs to be.

Neighbourhood Solar is an experiment in reducing those barriers by organizing interested households together, sharing information openly, and creating opportunities for coordinated procurement.

Read or listen: Giving Clean Electricity a Political Voice of Its Own (Volts.wtf).