By becoming a members in the SES Solar Co-op, you’re directly contributing to the expansion of the renewable energy economy in Saskatchewan. You can become a member by owning one Class A Share and one or more Class B Shares.
The average Saskatchewan household uses about 8,700 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year – about 14 Class B shares is enough to generate this amount of electricity.
Members have one vote at meetings regardless of how many preferred shares they own. Members may also run for the Board of Directors on an annual basis, for terms up to three years, to oversee the operations of the co-op. Check out our bylaws on our Resources page.
To become a member of the Co-op, you must be over 18 and a resident of Saskatchewan. If you move out of province, you may continue to own shares as long as they were purchased while you were a resident of Saskatchewan.
Want to learn more?
Our Shares
To be a member, you must own one $50 Class A Share and at least one $950 Class B shares. Shares can be co-owned by two people or groups of people. Group shareholders designate one of their party to vote at member meetings.
Share prices are fixed in our bylaws and we intend to maintain this price.
Each Class B Share is entitled to dividends due to the generation of solar power. The Board of Directors can decide to issue a dividend when the Co-op’s income from lease payments exceeds its expenses. Our largest expenses are insurance, maintenance, and depreciation of the solar asset (amortization on our financial statements) – we also reinvest a portion of our earnings into new solar installations. We expect energy prices and therefore lease payments to increase annually. Since 2021, we have distributed a dividend to shareholders each year, however we are not permitted to project how much or when future dividends will be issued.
You can only sell your shares back to the Co-op. We will normally accept these requests as long as our finances allow it; we have developed a financial reserve fund to assist with this process.
We recommend you consider the advice of a professional before investing and review the offering document on our Resources page.
Shares are RRSP Eligible
You may choose to register your shares as a self-directed RRSP held in trust by the Canadian Workers Co-operative Federation (CWCF). The RRSP options allow the purchase of new Class B Preferred shares or a transfer of existing funds into shares that will be registered as a self-directed RRSP held in trust by the Canadian Workers Co-operative Federation. Members may also turn their existing shares into RRSPs.
Alternatively, shares may be registered as a TFSA.
Administrative fees apply to these options, including a processing fee of $100, an annual CWCF fee of $55, and/or a CWCF $50 transfer fee. For this reason, we recommend purchasing a minimum of 5 shares.
For assistance, email us at admin@sessolarcoop.ca.
SES Solar Co-op Ltd.
SES Solar Co-op Ltd.