John Kirkwood & Dick Bakker | OREC: Empowering Ontario communities with renewable energy | 2025-03-12 at 13:30 ET | CACOR Live

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Topic: OREC: Empowering Ontario communities with renewable energy

Speakers:  John Kirkwood & Dick Bakker

Time: Mar 12, 2025, at 13:30 Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82905457620?pwd=eEcR2Kdr1AcbwPPYimKNisrg3tAvlf.1

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Dick                         John

Summary

Ontario’s electricity system is at a critical juncture. The government’s own forecast indicates we will need 75% more capacity within the next 25 years. Yet the plan is to increase our dependence on centralized nuclear energy that is more expensive and riskier than renewable alternatives.

OREC (Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative) believes community-owned renewable energy is the least expensive and most reliable form of new electricity for Ontario. John Kirkwood & Dick Bakker will present OREC’s history, our projects, our advocacy for more progressive policies, and the benefits we offer to Ontario’s citizens. They will emphasize the value of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), including improved resilience, efficiency, and local economic benefits. The presentation will also explore policy changes needed to accelerate renewable energy adoption in Ontario.

Finally, John & Dick will dive into OREx Community eXchange, a platform which enables members to help others make informed choices about heat pumps, residential solar panels, EVs, and more. OREx empowers communities to take control of their electricity supply and lower their costs.  Our website is http://www.orec.ca/.

Bios

John Kirkwood:

John Kirkwood is in his 2nd year as the President of OREC. In addition to working with OREC’s Board and its committed membership for strategic planning, communications, and advocacy, John has developed MyOREC to help grow OREC’s membership and investment base.

Professionally, John is a Technology Consultant with over 25 years of enterprise experience. He has helped Canadian, US and foreign clients large and small in the public-, private- and nonprofit- sectors ‘solve problems with technology’.

John is an electric car (EV) enthusiast, and he has enjoyed many adventurous road trips, including driving from Ottawa to Mexico to California and back (12,500 KM). John has a BA (Computer Science) and a BFA (visual arts, philosophy) from York University.

Dick Bakker:

Dick Bakker has been actively involved in the Renewable Energy Industry since 2002 and has been a vocal advocate for all renewable energy options for even longer.  He has been operating a MicroFIT solar system since June 2010 at his property in Manotick Station.

Dick has 20 years of sales and management experience in the telecommunications industry with companies such as Telesat Canada, Cisco, and a number of smaller firms.  He now operates a seasonal event retail store.  Dick has a BA (Politics) and an MBA from Queen’s University.

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