based in Toronto and grew into more significant project development roles. When that small company was sold in 2008, I went to work for another forest products industry firm seeking to grow its clean energy ambitions. I led the compa- ny’s ambitions with wind energy, resulting in the 102MW South Canoe Wind Farm, after securing the necessary partners and contracts. I also got some important experience developing a 10MW biomass combined heat and power project and being involved in the tidal energy project. During this period of my career, I had the great fortune of pursuing a business degree overseas with a focus in the global energy industry. That same firm provided the underpinning development work for AREA and in 2016, I moved to the direct employ of AREA, growing the company’s ambi- tions and now I lead it as the General Manager. Over my career, I’ve seen the incredible wealth generation potential of the clean energy transi- tion and I want to ensure that a fair share flows into the public purse. My philosophical perspec- tive in this regard aligns with the objectives of AREA’s municipal ownership and that’s a key motivation for me in this role.
Lenta Wright: I immigrated from South Africa in 2016 with my family and settled in Halifax. My career in South Africa was spent in the motor vehicle industry from supply side to corporate services. This was a good fit for my first tasks at AREA; when I joined the team four years ago, which was to develop an electric vehicle charging infrastructure for communities. This project resulted in 42 charging points across five com - munities. I have since moved on to project devel- opment of the three Community Solar Gardens in our three owner towns. Spotlight on Business: Can we get a little history on the Alternative Resource Energy Authority, like when it was founded, by whom and why? Aaron Long: Four municipal electric utilities desired to have greater control over the cost and carbon intensity of their wholesale electricity supply so, with the help of the firm I was at in 2013, AREA was formed in that year by the towns of Antigonish, Berwick and Mahone Bay. Each town has two members on the Board of Directors, the
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MAY/JUNE 2022 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MAY/JUNE 2022
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