Atlantic Power & Infrastructure Corp. (AWSL)

[warburg]

Willy, To answer your question, FIT contracts do not get rejected based on the structural integrity of buildings. The structural issues are contingent on building permits only, and are not related to FIT approval.

The OPA will make rejections based on lease agreements, capacity issues, and transmission issues. All other issues are n/a

So far the transmission and capacity issues have only been confined to certain areas including Hamilton, Welland, Ottawa, some of the London area, and the Niagara Region
.
I’m told these are not areas which AWSL had ever focused on securing lease agreements in.
(Call them, they will tell you same thing.)

Some other developers applications have dropped out due to issues with the application itself,
(i.e. - Errors such as wrong address, wrong ts info, etc)

But developers that are on the ball can follow what stage their contracts are at online, each and every step of the way...and if there are issues, such as I’s needing to be dotted and T’s needing to be crossed, the OPA is quite diplomatic about letting the developer make the edits, without allowing their application to lose its place in line.

Other developers have allowed their applications to drop out because they cannot afford the “execution fee”, which is quite hefty.

The initial application fee is only $500.00 and anyone can apply. The execution fee is in the thousands, but is refunded upon connection to the gird. This fee shakes out the weaker players.

But since you asked in your post about how AWSL is different, I will tell you -- They are one of the only companies I know of who does all of their structural engineering before they apply to FIT
(Structural engineering assessment fees can cost up to $25k per building)
(Call and ask them for a quote for your building, you will get same answer)

In fact, they are the only developer I know of who had their full model in place before applying to the OPA.

This is confirmed in two articles.

http://www.monstercommercial.com/your-commercial-rooftop-could-be-a-source-of-income-part-one/

http://www.solarfeeds.com/thesolargazetteorg/14095-getting-your-solar-project-ducks-in-a-row--an-ontario-financiers-perspective


This proponent is again confirmed on their web site under the partners section.

http://atlanticwindandsolar.com/partners.html


As you can see for “over” the past year and a half, they have been partnered with Steenhof Engineering, Steeltree Structures, Purves Redmond Insurance, Intech Risk management, and others.

In other words, they worked out their entire cost and structure model, and determined if the proposed system would even be feasible to install on the roof, “before” they began applying for the contracts.

Having an exclusive relationship with a corporate real estate giantlike Cushman & Wakefield would have likely required them to get all this worked out, before Cushman would ever consider recommending AWSL to any of their client’s.

Rest assured, Cushman would have demanded to see proof of financing before moving forward with any of this.

C & W would have done all their DD on AWSL before introducing AWSL to a single landlord.
Keep in ind, C & W is recommending to landlords to let AWSL lease their roof for the next 20 years That is a major responsibility. If those roofs leak, its C&W's ass too.


Before the naysayers try to suggest the C & W partnership is non existent, I urge you to contact AWSL and ask them to forward you their 4 page introduction and power point presentation.

There is a link on this page to do so: http://atlanticwindandsolar.com/solar.html


Upon receiving your rooftop presentation, you will notice it was designed and prepared by Cushman & Wakefield, seeing how their name, logo and sales reps names are all over it.

And lets face it, C & W would never allow AWSL to distribute these if the relationship was not real, as some try to suggest.

To further confirm this relationship does exist, you can also read this press release issued by one of Cushman’s clients, Waxman Recycling.

It states that C & W brokered the deal between Waxman and AWSL.

Even the mayor of the city comments in the article and congratulates them.
(How’s that for third party verification.)

http://www.solarfeeds.com/thesolargazetteorg/15343-waxman-industrial-adds-enormous-rooftop-solar-energy-park

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Waxmans-Scrap-Cares-Continues-iw-991372302.html?x=0
.
http://www.energymanagementcanada.com/News/Feature-Articles/the-greening-of-green-leading-recycling-company-adds-enormous-rooftop-solar-energy-park-to-business-model.html


As you can see from the articles I supplied links to, (despite what Gilda wants you to believe) the company has in fact done a lot of talking in the past while conducting countless interviews with solar magazines, commercial real estate marketers, and other leaders in the sector.

But it appears they may believe the time for talk is over.

Lets face it, there’s nothing else to say. Its time to do.... but unfortunately their hands are tied until those FIT contracts get released from the OPA. The whole sector is at a stand still until this happens.

There isnt even a secondary market to take advantage of yet, otherwise they would be out there buying contracts.

Some analysts are saying tha this is all strategy for the OPA, because of the coming elections. The Liberal want to release many contracts all at once, so they make front line headlines all over the country. In other words, they have been stock piling the contracts to release them with a big punch.

But the time is near...And rest assured, management haven’t gone anywhere (as Gilda also suggests).

After all, do you think it would be a good time to leave town just as you expect to have literally hundreds of millions of dollars in FIT contracts awarded ? Lol

You might not feel the need to talk, or even “whisper” any more, but you would definitely not leave town. lol

FYI, solar developers who have contracts that have been completely pre-approved by the OPA, (that have made it all the way through the OPA approval process) that now await “final” release, have been contacted by the OPA already, and have been informed how many contracts they will have approved in the next round. This goes for every solar developer. Therefore they know what is about to happen.

Like I said, if I was them, I wouldn’t feel the need to talk right now either. This is a game changer.

The OPA’s last Press Release confirms exactly what I am saying, and confrims that the same category that all of AWSL’s contracts were applied for last year under “will be approved “ in the next round of approvals.

This quote was taken from that last PR issued on February 24th: “In the coming weeks, the OPA expects to begin awarding phase three contracts for capacity allocation exempt (CAE) projects (under 500 kilowatts) that applied between June 5, 2010, and December 7, 2010.”

<http://fit.powerauthority.on.ca/february-24-2011-second-round-large-scale-renewable-energy-projects>;

This is all about to happen in a big way. I have read several articles that state AWSL have over 150 projects they are working on. Lets assume 1/3 of those were applies for last year, at $6 mil to $12 mil per project, -- you get the picture.

I just wish I had more funds avail to buy more shares right now, because this is going to go crazy once those contracts get approved.

But don’t take my word for it. Phone Geoff Moffat as Cushman’s, call Waxman Recycling, Call AWSL offices, or some of the Author’s of those articles I posted (The SolarGazette.org) or call the OPA (416-967-7474 OPA Main Telephone) and ask them what the hold up is. I also urge you to call other solar developers in Ontario and ask them their opinion. Call Purves Redmond, their insurance company, and their other partners they proudly post on their web site – I have, and here I am, excited as hell for what is to come.

To balance things out, just to be fair and to get you the whole story, I would also urge you to call some of the people who keep saying negative things about AWSL every day. But none of them supply their real names, let alone contact info, so I really don’t know what to suggest or where to start. Sorry.


These contracts are a BIG game changer and are about to happen “any day.”

I hope this helps give you an honest, clear evaluation of where this company is at in terms of progress.

Good luck !!!