Each co-op has its own administration. If they take on new customers, they have to submit an application to the government saying how many new customers they expect to install that year. The government then monitors it. At the end of the year, they have to submit their final numbers showing how many they installed and what the cost was. There's a base price a co-op has to absorb, and then the amount in excess of that is split on a 25%-to-75% basis. Once all your paperwork is completed and all your easements are in place, they issue a cheque for that portion of your costs for the year before.
On July 27th, 2012. See this statement in context.