Strategic Storage Trust, Inc. (SSTI), a public REIT targeting the self-storage market under the SmartStop ® Self Storage brand name, has received contracts from the Ontario Power Authority’s Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program to install solar panels on its three facilities in Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto by autumn 2014.

“We decided to implement our ‘green’ strategy in Canada due to Ontario’s amazing FIT program,” said H. Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO of SSTI. “Our goal is to continue to look for every opportunity to reduce operating expenses and maximize revenues on all our Canadian facilities.”

The FIT program, developed in conjunction with Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act of 2009 to encourage and promote greater use of renewable energy sources, is North America’s first comprehensive guaranteed pricing structure for renewable energy production. FIT awards contracts to buy energy at stable prices from companies that invest in renewable energy production.

SSTI will install 250 AC units or 300 DC units on each of its three Canadian properties, generating approximately one million kilowatt hours of renewable solar energy annually. The systems will power the self-storage facilities and generate extra energy, which will be sold to FIT at a rate of 54 cents per kilowatt.

SmartStop Self Storage in Brampton, a five-building Class A self-storage facility with 800 units on 4.36 acres, will generate approximately 334,000 kilowatt hours per year. The Toronto facility, approximately nine miles/14 kilometers north of downtown in the North York area, will generate approximately 353,200 kilowatt hours. The company’s four-acre property on Mavis Road in Mississauga, expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2014, will generate approximately 337,000 kilowatt hours.

About Strategic Storage Trust, Inc.

Strategic Storage Trust, Inc. (SSTI) is a public self-storage REIT and is one of the fastest growing self-storage non-traded REITs nationwide. The SSTI management team is comprised of industry veterans with extensive institutional experience in the acquisition and property management of self-storage properties. Since the launch of SSTI in 2008, the company’s portfolio of wholly-owned properties has expanded to include 122 properties in 17 states and Canada that are being branded as SmartStop® Self Storage. The portfolio includes approximately 77,000 self-storage units and 10.2 million rentable square feet of storage space. For more information about SSTI, please call 949-469-6600 or visit www.strategicstoragetrust.com.

About SmartStop® Self Storage

SmartStop® Self Storage offers affordable, accessible and secure storage space for residential and commercial customers. SmartStop offers secure interior and exterior units as well as outside storage areas for vehicles, RVs and boats. In addition to features such as keypad access, security gates and video surveillance, the facilities also utilize well trained on-site associates to provide customers with the highest standard of service in the industry. To view our properties and locations or to find a nearby storage facility, visit www.smartstopselfstorage.com.

(via MarketWired)

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