INFORMATION FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC OF NOVA SCOTIA

This webpage has been provided for members of local communities who have a low-impact renewable electricity project proposed near them. It explains how to best engage with the Green Choice Program, the role of Coho, m5 Public Affairs, and who to contact if you have any questions or commentary regarding a proposed renewable energy project.

The Procurement Administrator (PA) and the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables have also compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions, which can be found on the Public FAQ page.

Engaging with Green Choice Program Projects:

Members of the local community near a potential project and the general public are encouraged to engage with the GCP in the following ways:

1) Participate directly in a Proponent's community engagement activities

2) Provide commentary to be reviewed by the PA as part of the RFP scoring

3) Participate in the project's Environmental Assessment process

More details on public engagement will be added to this page as the procurement progresses. Please contact us if you would like to be added to our distribution list to receive these updates.

Ask a Question

For more information on how to engage with a developer directly, please contact the respective developer.

If you have further questions about the Environmental Assessment process, please contact Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change

If you would like to provide comments regarding a specific development, to be taken into consideration when scoring the RFP, or if you have a general inquiry, please contact our Community Consultant, m5 Public Affairs: GCP@m5.ca

m5 Public Affairs, the Community Consultant

m5 Public Affairs is Atlantic Canada’s leading public relations and communications firm, offering a full range of public affairs, government relations and public relations services. They will be be assisted by their sibling company, MQO Research, who specializes in survey and engagement tool design, as well as providing detailed analysis that underpins the raw numbers. m5 Public Affairs and MQO Research are part of the m5 Group of Companies: Group m5 has been successfully providing strategic communications advice and performing stakeholder engagement exercises in Atlantic Canada for the last 40 years.

Coho Climate Advisors, the Procurement Administrator (PA)

On December 23, 2020 the Province appointed Coho (formerly CustomerFirst Renewables) as the Procurement Administrator for a term of three years to conduct the current procurement process. This is a tool often used in many energy markets to ensure a thorough and independent process that is fair, transparent, and competitive.

As directed by the Province, the Procurement Administrator issues a competitive process or a Request for Proposals (RFP) for new renewable energy.

The Procurement Administrator develops the RFP in collaboration with many key parties and provides several opportunities for feedback. The Procurement Administrator will issue the RFP with a Proposal Submission Deadline. Proponents will have this time to finalize their projects for submission. Once submitted, the Procurement Administrators will review and score the projects based on how they best meet the requirements set out in the RFP. The highest scoring projects will be selected from the bidding process and issued a commercial sales contract for the electricity that will be generated by the project.

The Procurement Administrator is responsible for communicating with Proponents, Nova Scotia Power, the Utility and Review Board and other interested industry participants. Please do not contact the Procurement Administrator if you have questions or concerns regarding an individual project(s). The above section describes the best way to engage at a project level.