For General Inquiries:

Grant Taibossigai 705 377 5362 ex.221 or grantt@mchigeeng.ca

M.E.R.E. General Partner Inc. P.O. Box 333 53 Highway 551

M’Chigeeng Ont. P0P 1G0

www.mchigeeng.ca

Mother earth renewable energy Project (M.E.R.E)

Construction BeginsM.E.R.E. Projects creating opportunities and employment

for M’Chigeeng community members!

Groundbreaking Ceremony Invitation for June 21, 2011Dear M’Chigeeng band members,

After many years of pursuing the dream of Community Power for M’Chigeeng, I am honoured to extend an invitation to all our Community members to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremonies of the Mother Earth Renewable Energy Wind Project.

We have chosen June 21st for our celebrations as it coincides with National Aboriginal Day as well as the Summer Solstice.

This Groundbreaking will be a day that M’Chigeeng can celebrate Our Environment, Our Culture and Our Social/Economically sustainable future.

Please Join us for a day of ceremony and celebration, come and find out about the specifics of the projects underway, come and see the sites and hear the voices of all the people who have brought this project to life. See the Agenda on pg. 6 for the specifics of the events and please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions you may have regarding the days events! I look forward to seeing you all there!

Sincerely, Chief Joe Hare and M’Chigeeng Band Council

Jobs created/planned with MERE Project

Contracts Contractor#of M’Chigeeng First Nation Members

Employed1. Tree Felling Contract Dennis Corbiere 9 Short Term (including owner/operator)2. Road Construction Lacroix Construction 3 Short Term3. Pole Line Construction J.J.Pole Line 2 Planned4. Foundation Foundation Contractor 4-6 (possible)5. Switching station Pole Line Contractor 2 (planned)

M’Chigeeng Local Businesses benefiting from MERE Construction Phase

Contracts Contractor#of M’Chigeeng First Nation Members

Employed1. Photo Video Services Nano Debassige 12. Sanitation Services Wallace Corbiere 13. Signage Signage Contractor 1

M.E.R.E. Logo Contest Announcement

In light of evolving events surrounding M.E.R.E., no single winner was

selected from recent submissions.

Prize amounts of $120 will be given to all individuals that submitted by the

May 27th, 2011 deadline.

The MERE General Partner Inc. Board members would like to thank

all submitters and appreciate the commitment of time and effort.

JUNE 2011M’chigeeng econoMic DeveloPMent UPDate

2 Mother earth renewable energy Project (M.E.R.E)

M’Chigeeng’s Solar RooftopsIn late 2010, M’Chigeeng decided to deploy solar projects on three of its buildings: the Band Office, the Recreation Centre and Lakeview School. Each system consists of racks with 54 solar panels mounted at approximately 30 degrees, all facing south. The energy from the solar panels goes through inverters that switch DC power from the panels into AC power ready for insertion into the grid. Once deployed these 10KW solar projects will generate revenue, selling their energy under the MicroFIT contract with the government of Ontario.The sales price is 80.2 cents per KWh for 20 years. The cost of these projects will be approximately $100,000 per building, and M’Chigeeng has received a grant from INAC for $60,000 per building. Assuming annual revenue of $10,000 per system, the investment will return positive cash flow to the Band within about 4 years.The first stage of deployment was a structural design process that established the loading capacity on each roof, and was done by Trow Associates Inc in January 2011. This analysis established that due to high wind forces (normal in this region), the racks holding the solar panels require mechanical attachment to each rooftop to prevent them lifting off. There also has been work underway to assure the Hydro officials that the systems will be electrically connected to the grid in a safe and proper manner and that their energy output will be measured properly by new meters. In this case, location for new wires, disconnect

switches, surge suppressors and for the installation of power inverters were identified. A consultation meeting was held with Hydro One officials to determine that the generation from the devices would be benign with respect to other users of Hydro One’s power (nearby customers sharing the same power wires). Reports from around the province indicate that Hydro One has been inundated with these requests to connect generation systems and they are starting to be concerned about the impact on power quality and grid safety.

After two months of consideration Hydro One issued its approvals to connect to the grid in early April 2011. Laroe Construction from Sudbury Installation crews started installations in mid-May. The installation of mechanical attachment proceeded in late May without interference to the building occupants. A few days later the installation crews from 3G Energy Corp arrived and spent a week installing racks and panels and training Band members on how to install solar systems. There are practical business reasons why M’Chigeeng is interested in these projects beyond financial. The deployment is intended to be a learning

experience for M’Chigeeng in terms of the deployment process, so that M’Chigeeng and various band members can become vendors of these products to other customers. Through an arrangement with the system suppliers, 3G Energy Corp and the manufacturer, Canadian Solar Inc, M’Chigeeng is receiving training on system assembly and installation and is undertaking this work with M’Chigeeng labour forces in conjunction with the usual installers. The follow-up benefits is that M’Chigeeng will have the ability to engage in this business as a contractor if it sees this as a successful opportunity for economic development. So these three deployments are in fact test beds for a potential new business.Does a 10KW system generate much power? Compared to the comparatively large buildings on which they reside, they will produce just a fraction of the annual consumption at each building. But the point is that these projects are easy to deploy and because of their small size, they don’t overwhelm the rooftops, they don’t require major structural changes, and they don’t have a lot of permitting hassles to deal with. Larger projects take much longer to get approved and financed. MicroFIT projects are quick and easy. M’Chigeeng can now become a merchant of these systems if it chooses that path.

Solar Trainees are as follows:1. Andrew Debassige 2. Archie Panamick 3.Stacey Debassige 4. Murray Ense 5. Nathan Corbiere

M’chigeeng econoMic DeveloPMent UPDate 3

The MERE Project recently entered an important phase – CONSTRUCTION! Much has already been started, including tree felling, road construction and recently the pole line work contract was finalized. The pole line work is scheduled to commence around June 15, when the road contractor is to finish the road work. The pole line work will be visible in June and likely into early July and then later in the summer when significant (and expensive) pieces of switching equipment will arrive from manufacturers and be mounted on the poles. In the activities scheduled for June, there will be a final decision on the turbine foundation design and then a foundation construction tender. By

early July the foundation contractor will be on the site and we will see lot of concrete poured by the end of July. Also in June the electrical engineers will finish the design of the switching station and there will be a tender for

that work. Because the switching equipment is custom built, there will be a few months delay before it shows up at the site. This work is scheduled of completion in September.Meanwhile, in Germany Enercon is working on the turbine components,

with a view to shipping them to Canada in late early September and to the site in late September. More news to follow next issue on the sources of the various bits of hardware and components from Enercon.

Tree clearing of the road way

MERE Project Update – June 1, 2011

aUgUst issUe: How to Build a FoundationHow are Turbine Blades Made?Who Supplies What?october issUe:Turbine Tower ComponentsTurbine Erection – The CraneDeceMber issUe:Grid Connection – The Hydro One PieceDirect Drive Versus Geared Turbines – Why Enercon is SuperiorFebrUary issUe

Why Did Project This Take So Long?After Completion – What to Expect in the Future

4 Mother earth renewable energy Project (M.E.R.E) 4 Mother earth renewable energy Project (M.E.R.E)

The equipment that was installed at M’Chigeeng’s site in September 2005 consists of a 50 meter tubular tower on which were mounted three sets of anemometers, two wind direction meters plus a temperature sensor. The anemometers measure the wind strength to about 2-3% accuracy and they are placed at three different levels, 40 meters, 40 meters and 50 meters. For redundancy in case instruments fail there are two anemometers at 50 meters. The instruments are attached to a data logger powered by a solar panel. The data logger records data readings every 10 minutes and is capable of storing several years’ worth of data. For the first three years of recording the data logger was contacted by means of a cellular radio link and the data was downloaded on a daily basis. Now that there is a long term record of data at the M’Chigeeng site, the daily downloads are no longer necessary.Even though the test tower instruments represent actual site data, the vagaries of local conditions means that what is recorded for a particular year needs to be compared with long term records. The point of a comparison is to assure the banker that the site data represents a “typical” year or if not, to adjust the site data to “typical” conditions. After all, if the measured local conditions were outliers, important investment decisions might be made under faulty assumptions about wind strength.

Comparison with historical data is done by obtaining records of meteorological data from local weather stations, usually located at airports. On Manitoulin there is data at Gore Bay, plus the Manitoulin East Municipal airfield near Wikwemikong, plus Sault St Marie and Sudbury Airports. Deciding which airport data to use means investigating the quality of the airport data and its instrumentation situation. Airport weather instrumentation is not always installed with the precision intentions that wind resource measurement analysis normally seeks. There are plenty of situations where airport data is unusable because the instruments have been changed from time to time, or the location of measurement has been changed, or a building was erected nearby the measurement station making all previous observations incomparable with the new data. In fact there are situations where airplanes taxing around the airport can influence the data being recorded. This means that the analyst must check the data at each of the proposed weather stations for continuity, plus visit the site to determine its history and assess local conditions. In the case of Manitoulin, Gore Bay was determined to be the most suitable and fortunately it is the closest weather station. The closer the better so that the weather being measured is more comparable to M’Chigeeng’s weather. At Gore Bay there are differences due to the proximity

of the lake as compared to the M’Chigeeng’s site which is about 100 m above lake level and these differences are factored into the analysis. Another issue for the analyst is whether the Gore Bay weather station is affected by freezing rain since heated instruments are not always installed at Environment Canada weather stations, which means that this data needs to be laboriously removed for a period of 10 years or more.Speaking of ice effects, the same process of filtering out bad data is required at the test tower. Every data point during winter months has to be examined and assessed as to whether it is trustworthy. It’s a judgement process that the analyst is trained to employ. And there are tens of thousands of records to examine.How much of the time will the turbines be operating? This question recognizes that all generation machinery is inactive at times due to particular operating features. Hydro Dams operate when there is enough water and historically this has been as high as 60-70 % of the year and in some case as high as 95%. Coal plants have mountains of fuel to burn so they can operate as much as 90-95% of the time. Wind turbines only operate when there is wind and wind resources in Ontario usually allow a turbine to achieve generation about 25-30% of the year. This is what is expected of the M’Chigeeng turbines.

Test Tower Equipment

Well that’s a good question. Just from life’s experience a person normally knows where the wind blows, especially on Manitoulin Island. Shorelines. High hills. But how do you know if it is commercially viable?

And given that debt is a fact of life in commercial energy projects, you must convince the bank that the wind will blow enough and consistently over the years.

Here is the methodology: you measure wind strength at the proposed site for more than 12 months. There are calculation models that use long term meteorological data collected on a regional basis, but these models have an error that exceeds the 5-6% threshold of accuracy that bankers require. More precision is needed and to get that, meteorological instrumentation at the site is required.

Quality Control Process. Once the data at the met station (Gore Bay) and the site (M’Chigeeng)

are filtered the two sets can be compared. There are statistical methods for comparing 12 months of data at the site with 12 months of the data at the met station. Once a comparison between site data and met station is done, the result is an index as to correlation, i.e. a number representing the goodness of the comparison. This correlation index is determined over 16 compass quadrants (known as direction bins) to account for seasonal differences in wind direction and strength. The correlation index is necessary to validate that a comparison with historical data at the met station will yield reliable results. If the correlation number is too low, the result is no reliable comparison of the test tower site records to the historical records at the met station.

On the two graphics you can see a comparison of the frequency of wind by wind direction between Gore Bay and the M’Chigeeng site. There is a lot of similarities between the two sets of data.

Wind Farms – How Do You Know the Wind Will Blow?by Graham Findlay, 3G Energy

M’chigeeng econoMic DeveloPMent UPDate 5

Robert Beaudin – President of the M.E.R.E. Board Robert Beaudin is a member of Council for M’Chigeeng First Nation. Robert has an extensive background in education as an elementary and secondary school teacher, principal and administrator spanning over thirty years. He received his undergraduate from Lakehead University as well as his teaching certification. Currently, Robert owns and operates Kabuty Consulting & Enterprises, a company that provides educational products and services across the province. As a member of council and as a member of the MERE Co. Board of Directors, Robert has expressed his pleasure of the development of the wind energy initiative. Robert has stated emphatically that developments such as the wind energy initiative contribute, positively, to the short term and long term benefits of M’Chigeeng First Nation. The potential of the wind energy initiative include including immediate work for local members through the initial phase of clearing the lands to the construction of the wind towers. Upon completion of the wind towers, and installation of the turbines, M’Chigeeng First Nation will benefit from the sale of the energy generated. The dividends to the community will be a reality from the first year increasing upon following years to a substantial amount that the community and membership shall enjoy for the life of the project. Robert has generated a wealth of experience and knowledge working with Boards and organizations across Ontario and brings that to MERE Co. Robert has excellent verbal and written skills that he contributes as an active Board member. His involvement includes full participation as a Board member, with enthusiasm and motivation, to support the continued and complete development of the wind energy initiative. Robert Beaudin is a proud member of M’Chigeeng First Nation. He continues to work toward the development of M’Chigeeng First Nation as a proud, prosperous and vibrant community. Robert is also a father to seven wonderful children and a grandfather to two. Robert feels that he can contribute to the progressive and positive development of M’Chigeeng as a Nation and positively impact the general living standards and well being of the

membership through participation on Boards such as MERE Co.

Graham Findlay – 3 G Energy Mr. Findlay is the lead consultant for the M.E.R.E. Project. He began his career as a river control engineer with Ontario Hydro working on hydroelectric power dam operations. He traveled extensively through the province on assignments on the major controlled rivers. After leaving the power utility industry in the early 1980’s, he earned an MBA and worked in corporate lending with the Mercantile Bank of Canada. His customers were mostly large commercial property developers. In the mid-1980’s he switched from banking to property development and spent 15 years focusing on office building construction, property management and office leasing. During this period he kept an eye open for opportunities for independent power producers. In the 2000’s he saw a looming explosion in the renewable energy industry as a result of deregulation of Ontario’s power industry, and got in early. Mr. Findlay was a founder and chief operating officer of Vector Wind Energy Inc for 4 years as of its inception in 2002. Under his direction the company started wind farm projects in all but two Canadian provinces, and he successfully built projects in Nova Scotia and won competitive tenders in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. As of 2008, there is a total of 100 MW of wind energy projects under construction originating from his efforts. Currently Mr Findlay is active as a consulting energy project developer and asset manager, working for institutional and First Nation clients. He is also a proponent of an innovative concrete wind turbine tower project that is expected to be constructed in 2009. Mr. Findlay holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Civil Engineering) degree from Queen’s University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Toronto.

Cherie Brant – Willms & ShierCherie is the legal council for the M.E.R.E. Wind Project. Cherie is an associate with Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP with a practice in planning, structuring and implementing renewable energy and real estate projects and related business transactions with a special emphasis on First

Nations clients.Cherie has extensive experience in a variety of renewable energy, real estate and commercial transactions representing First Nations, proponents, service providers, lenders and industry associations. Cherie is Mohawk and Ojibway.

Helimax Energy Inc.Helimax Energy Inc., a leader in the field of wind energy consulting, excels in its particular use of meteorology and engineering for utility-scale wind energy project development.From its inception, Hélimax has been actively involved in project development and implementation/operation around the globe, gaining extensive experience at every level. Hélimax’s goal is to maintain long-term relationships with its clients by consistently delivering professional services that meet the highest of standards. The client’s complete satisfaction is our first priority.The inherent characteristics of the sites often developed and/or targeted by the Canadian wind industry – complex terrain, forested areas and cold climates – present a unique challenge. These characteristics have a significant impact on the manner in which meteorological and energy yield assessments are executed and, ultimately, the design, operation and performance of wind farms. Hélimax has developed its expertise while dealing with these conditions on a continuous basis – it’s our environment. Hélimax has unsurpassed experience assessing the certainty of energy yield for projects in the Canadian context.Hélimax’s rigorous methodologies – tested, confirmed and accepted by Canadian lenders (chartered banks, insurance companies, pension funds) – in conjunction with our reputation for reliability and accuracy, reinforce our position as a leading independent authority.

M.E.R.E. Board and Consultant PROFILE

6 Mother earth renewable energy Project (M.E.R.E)

10:00 aM Meet at Community Complex for departure to Turbine site on bluff

10:15 aM

Arrive at site for Opening Ceremonies – UCCM Elders

Ground Breaking Ceremony – Chief Joe Hare

10:45 aM

Depart from project site and return to Community Complex

11:00 aM

Arrive at Complex for Presentations

Welcome and Project Review – Chief Joe Hare

11:15 aM

Master of Ceremonies – Robert Beaudin, MERE General Partner Inc. president

GUEST SPEAKERS: 1. Kris Stevens, Ontario ustainable Energy Association (OSEA)

2. Mauro Delfante, Fed Nor

3. Hillary Thatcher

4. Hassan Shahriar – Enercon Canada Inc.

5. Deb Doncaster, Community Power Fund (tentative)

6. Graham Findlay, 3G Energy Corp

7. Mayor Austin Hunt, Billings Township

8. Mayor, Nemi Township (tentative)

9. Gilles Brunett, INAC, CEOP Program

10. Barry Lacroix, President Lacroix Construction

11. Pat Madahbee, Grand Chief Union of Ontario Indians

12. Colin Sun, INAC, MRED Programs (tentative)

12:15 Closing Remarks – Robert Beaudin, MERE General Partner Inc. president

Lunch – Catered

NOTE: As part of M’Chigeeng First Nation “Aboriginal day” activities all attendees are invited to stay and enjoy a “Fashion Show” immediately following the Lunch.

M’Chigeeng M.E.R.E. Wind Farm ProjectGroundbreaking Ceremony

Tuesday June 21st 2011 – East Bluff

For General Inquiries:

Grant Taibossigai 705 377 5362 ex.221 or grantt@mchigeeng.ca

M.E.R.E. General Partner Inc. P.O. Box 333 53 Highway 551

M’Chigeeng Ont. P0P 1G0

www.mchigeeng.ca

UPCOMMING EVENTS

✺ Little Current Trade Fair: June 3-5

(M.E.R.E. Booth Project display)

✺ Groundbreaking Ceremonies on Bluff and

at Community Complex June 21st

✺ Assembly of First Nations Energy Conference

Niagara Falls: June 27-29

Chief Joe Hare and Cherie Brant Presenting