Ontario's Crown-owned electricity utility would play a central role in developing the province's fledgling renewable-energy sector as part of a campaign pledge by the New Democrats to retain public ownership of large projects.
New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath announced on Thursday that Ontario Power Generation would be responsible for awarding contracts for large wind, solar and other renewable-energy projects. Private companies would be allowed to submit bids to OPG, but priority would be given to first nations groups and local municipalities.
Ms. Horwath is taking aim at the governing Liberals, who have come under fire for inking a multibillion-dollar deal with South Korean industrial giant Samsung Group. The government did not seek competitive tenders before awarding the lucrative contract, which includes a guaranteed revenue stream for 20 years in return for Samsung developing 2,500 megawatts of wind and solar energy, enough to light up more than 580,000 homes in the province.
"We think the mega, private power deals that the Liberal government has gotten into are not the best way to go," Ms. Horwath told reporters. "We think there needs to be public ownership, public management of the renewable-energy sector."
OPG owns three nuclear-power stations as well as hydroelectric and coal-fired plants in Ontario that generate about 60 per cent of the province's electricity. But the utility is not involved in the government's ambitious goal to turn Ontario into a green-energy powerhouse.
Instead, the government is luring private-sector companies to the province by offering generous, 20-year contracts that include a guaranteed revenue stream. The Progressive Conservatives have pledged to scrap the $7-billion deal with Samsung if they win the election on Oct. 6. They would also cancel 1,800 feed-in-tariff (FIT) contracts the province's electricity planning agency has signed with large and medium-sized renewable-energy developers, casting enormous uncertainty over the sector.
Ms. Horwath said the NDP would honour all FIT contracts that are under 20 to 30 megawatts in size. But the OPG would be solely responsible for negotiating contracts above that threshold.
Energy Minister Brad Duguid said the Tories and the NDP are jeopardizing many of the 20,000 jobs that he says have been created in the green-energy sector.
"The last thing any political leader should be doing now is rolling the dice and putting more risk into those investments," he said.
The province's green-energy program is not just coming under siege from opposition members. The European Union has joined Japan in complaining to the World Trade Organization about Ontario's green-energy subsidies, which they say are unfair.
Ontario pays wind producers 13.5 cents a kilowatt hour and solar producers between 44.3 cents and 80.2 cents – well above the market price of 3.22 cents a kWh.
Under the NDP plan, OPG would essentially assume responsibility for most aspects of the province's electricity sector. Ms. Horwath announced at her party's pre-election convention in June that she would effectively put the old Ontario Hydro back together again. She would merge OPG, Hydro One, the Ontario Power Authority and the Independent Electricity System Operator.
Thursday's announcement was part of the New Democrats' green platform, which also includes rebates of up to $5,000 to help homeowners make their residences more energy efficient and provisions to make the province's roads a little more bicycle-friendly. The NDP would require drivers to leave one metre between bikes and motor vehicles to encourage commuters to cycle instead of drive to work.
Karen Howlett