The Progressive Conservative party, which is vying to unseat the Liberal Dalton McGuinty government in the upcoming Ontario provincial election, has stated that it would ‘tear up’ the C$7 billion agreement that Samsung and the Ontario government reached last year.
The Samsung agreement, which includes the development of 2,500 MW of wind and solar energy projects in the province, is the largest single investment commitment under Ontario's landmark Green Energy Act (GEA).
Throughout the election campaign – in which the GEA is among the election's most polarizing issues – John Yakabuski, energy critic for the Progressive Conservative party, has denounced Samsung's investment. He says the agreement is a ‘shady deal that Dalton McGuinty signed behind closed doors,’ adding it would drive up electricity bills.
‘We don't think there is a real contract with Samsung,’ Yakabuski tells NAW. ‘It's more like a memorandum of understanding. We've seen the redacted copy. We've been asking to see the contract for three months now.’
Hagen Lee, manager of business development and government relations at Samsung Renewable Energy, refuses to make assumptions but notes the agreement is genuine.
‘We won't speculate on what a certain party or party leader might do,’ he says. ‘Samsung has entered into an agreement with the province of Ontario. We have a binding contract, and we are working hard to fulfill our commitments.’
As to why Samsung did not make the contents of its agreement public, Lee explains that ‘there are countless ongoing subsequent negotiations with suppliers and other counterparts. The remaining portion of the agreement could not be made public at this time because of commercial sensitivity.’
Still, Lee estimates the company has shared about 80% to 90% of the agreement with the public.
Andrew Block, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, speculates that the full financial implications to Ontario of canceling the agreement would be subject to discussions with Samsung and could include legal action.
While many Ontarians initially criticized the deal, the province is now beginning to reap the rewards through economic development and job creation.
When the deal was announced in January 2010, Samsung promised to build manufacturing plants and use Ontario-made steel in its renewable energy projects. Thus far, the company has kept up its side of the deal. To date, Samsung's manufacturing centers include a Siemens blade facility in Tillsonburg and a CS Wind tower facility in Windsor.
