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wpd CEO says cancellation unfair and costly for company

Open letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford

wpd AG is a German developer, owner and operator of wind farm projects, which has, through its Mississauga based office, been developing the White Pines project for years and is now realizing it as an investor.

We employ over 600 people in 20 different countries. As a medium business, we are dependent on external project financing from banks and, in the case of larger projects, also on other investors. In the White Pines project, the public utility of the city of Munich is the co-investor.

If you now withdraw the economic basis for the White Pines project – as obviously planned – our company will incur a serious loss of over CAD 100 million. This is a difficult situation for a company of our size to cope with.

We have been active in Ontario since 2007 in full trust and confidence in a state where investors can rely on applicable law, protection of trust and investment security. In all the years, we have complied with all the applicable regulatory framework, created new jobs and paid taxes. Therefore, we have done everything as required by the legal and political framework.

It comes without saying that there are both supporters and critics to every major infrastructure project. Particularly in the energy sector, the discussions have often been very emotional. We have acceptedthe dialogue in Ontario in many events and have received a great deal of support on the ground alongside individual critics among the population.

A new elected government has any right to pursue a different energy policy. That is a fundamental principle of democracy. But do you think, dear Premier, that it is fair and equitable that a project right before completion is now being ruined retroactively and that our company is suffering serious damage through no fault of its own? Your reconsideration would be greatly appreciated.

Dr. Harmut Brösamle
CEO wpd AG

Filed Under: Letters and OpinionNews from Everywhere Else

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  1. Paul Cole says:

    Excellent point Gary if that’s all ya got well you know.

  2. Gary says:

    Good grief, Paul is talking about windmills! Anyone seen one here?

  3. Sue3 says:

    Paul, there is a list of the projects at: https://news.ontario.ca/mndmf/en/2018/07/large-renewable-procurement-and-feed-in-tariff-contracts.html

    It is also stated that “The projects on these lists are Large Renewable Projects that have not achieved their Key Development Milestones, and Feed-In Tariff projects that have not received Notice To Proceed.”

  4. Susan says:

    You miss the point again. You didn’t calculate 20 year contracts for energy we cannot store and do not need. And our South Shore environment is protected. Taxpayer wins on all counts.

  5. Paul Cole says:

    That $10M is an average by the way some will certainly be less and some will certainly be more…LETS ALL PARTY…

  6. Paul Cole says:

    758 green energy contracts have been cancelled according to folks here on the message board pending Royal Assent which basically is procedural. I’ll accept Chris Keens $40 million compensation package for wpd and estimate the other 757 contracts compensation packages to cost lets say $10 million each so $10m x 757=… I’ll let ya all do the math……

  7. Susan says:

    Something tells me there is one helluva party on the south shore of PEC tonight! Democratic rights restored is well worth celebrating.

  8. Gary Mooney says:

    The bill also requires royal consent, but this has been given.

    So White Pines is officially dead. Woo hoo!

  9. Mark says:

    The Bill to terminate White Pines passed 3rd reading at 4:50 PM today to become law. The project is formally DEAD!!!!!

  10. Emily says:

    Whatever, the payout and cancellation will still be cheaper than letting this farce continued. Taxpayer wins. Should never have been approved to begin with. That’s Industrial Wind Turbines I am speaking about. I am not aware of any windmills in the County.

  11. Chris Keen says:

    $100 million is wpd’s mantra and is no doubt a gross overstatement of their actual costs to July 10th. They’ll have to prove every penny. I understand the average cost per megawatt is $2-$3 million. So for an 18 megawatt project the real cost is likely closer to $40 million.

  12. Paul Cole says:

    Hundreds of other green energy projects. Oh My “The MPP for Bay of Quinte riding and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs understands why the Business Council of Canada might not like the government’s plans to cancel hundreds of green energy projects but says the cancellations are the right thing to do.”

  13. Paul Cole says:

    $100 million for WPD project there are many other contracted projects being cancelled too wonder what their cost will be. Guess who will pay for the other contracts as well, Thanks Todd…Paying for nothing in return..

  14. Emily says:

    Well if it cost 100 million to this point for 9 and only 3 or 4 erected, and you factor in the contract payout for the next 20 years, you arrive at some ridiculous number in the hundreds of millions that we the taxpayer were going to be stuck with. Rip them right out of the ground!

  15. Chris Keen says:

    As of today, the Urgent Priorities Act, 2018 is ready for Third Reading. Then it becomes law.

    Howarth’s comparing the wpd project to the gas plant scandal is a bit of a stretch. The Liberals spent billions rebuilding a gas plant we don’t need. Ford simply cancelled $700 million worth of projects we don’t need. No rebuilding. What it will all cost is anyone’s guess.

  16. olmnonthemtn says:

    Well we know the support we have from the NDP:

    “NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the new Tory government is behaving like the previous Liberal government by cancelling energy projects and tearing up contracts. She likened the Tory plan to the Liberal gas plant scandal that saw the government relocate two plants at a substantial cost to taxpayers.”

    Global News july 11 from an article re: termination of WPD project

  17. Paul Cole says:

    On July 10 wpd stated they had received no official notice of the possible cancellation, fairly there were stories in the news that legislation would be introduced. Is that enough to stop work on a project that you are doing on a legally binding contract that won’t be officially cancelled until legislation is past. And if the contract is cancelled wouldn’t any obligation on removal of the windmills be null and void ? Matters for the courts I suppose

  18. Susan says:

    A windmill is a building with sails or vanes that turn in the wind and generate power to grind grain into flour/ or a wind driven water pump. Don’t think it will cost a dime to take those down.

  19. Gary Mooney says:

    Two comments on postings by others:

    The government will reimburse Wpd only for work done up to July 10. At this date, only one turbine had been installed. For reasons known only to them, Wpd has continued to install more turbines — now four. They won’t be reimbursed for taking down three of them.

    Re Blanding’s turtle, Wpd interpreted Blanding’s turtle habitat narrowly, as if they didn’t move from one area to another. MOECC backed them up 100%. In fact, MOECC has backed up Wpd on everything they wanted to do.

  20. hockeynan says:

    In reply to Angus.I believe you are wrong on the trucks being overloaded.The county would not let that happen and they were checking all the time.Also that is why they had so many cement trucks as they could only carry a small amount of cement.On the turtle subject ,the MOE would not of let them do what they did.Where do you get your rediculous information.

  21. Paul Cole says:

    Not old news Susan it was said on July 24th… http://www.quintenews.com/2018/07/smith-cancelling-green-energy-projects-good-for-business/182467/. I wonder how much it will cost to take the windmills down…

  22. Susan says:

    Paul; yes that is what Todd said and that is the legislation. Old news! Certainly aren’t accepting 100 million for 9 turbines, and they can tear the damn things down. We are patsies no longer! They are coming down and out of the County.

  23. Angus Ross says:

    Couple of comments on Dr.Brosamle’s open letter:

    1. Ontario is a province, not a state. Glad to see you know what you are talking about!

    2. WPD did not follow all rules and regulations. You continued work during a period when you were threatening the Blandings turtles’ habitat and had been ordered not to and you totally ignored the half-load requirements on County roads during spring season contrary to.

    Please don’t claim to be following all regulations when it is clear you weren’t.

  24. Paul Cole says:

    Mr Smith said this in a response to Mr Manleys letter. “He adds that cancelling the White Pines wind farm in Prince Edward County will also save ratepayers money, even after compensating the company wpd for its cost up until July 10.”

  25. Susan says:

    The Liberal, John Manley, President of Business Council Canada (cushy job)is slamming the decision to terminate White Pines! He doesn’t get the issue in any manner.

  26. Gary Mooney says:

    Dave Thomas, government legislation trumps the courts, except for charter rights. The Ontario government can pass any legislation it wants, to void any contract, and that’s what it’s doing.

    And Fred, the legislation to cancel White Pines was due to be proclaimed this coming Thursday, but the NDP is slowing down the process. But it wlll be done soon.

  27. Gary says:

    How did we ever allow such a devastating policy as in the Green Energy Act to become law. Where were we and why did we sit quiet other than the fantastic groups that have opposed from day 1. PECFN & APPEC should be compensated for their costs.

  28. Mark says:

    4 years from now we may find the Ford PC,s quite disappointing, but not on the Industrial Wind file. On this they demonstrate courage to return power to local municipalities. That alone is admirable!

  29. Emily says:

    I think the discussion about a USA blackout has little to do with industrial turbines still being erected and roads, ditches and wildlife areas being desecrated.

  30. olmnonthemtn says:

    The report on the 2003 Blackout
    The painstakingly detailed report by the U.S.-Canadian task force confirmed what Warren already knew: It wasn’t Ontario’s fault
    The blackout’s roots trace back to a string of events in Ohio – some natural, some human.
    Trees and hot weather performed the natural factors.
    Heat boosted demand for power. That strained generating capacity, and loaded transmission lines – which heated and started dipping lower toward trees that had been allowed to grow up beneath.
    Then a unit at the Eastlake coal-fired generating station near Cleveland had a breakdown at 1:31 p.m. – meaning some transmission lines had to work harder to deliver power from outside the area.
    Part of the problem with the 2003 blackout, Campbell said, was that there were no clearly spelled out and enforced reliability standards for power systems.
    Ontario already had enforceable standards – with utilities or power agencies liable to fines if they didn’t make the grade. But in 2003, Ontario was the only jurisdiction in North America that did.
    Toronto Star Tues., Aug. 13, 2013

  31. Dave Thomas says:

    I just went for a drive. There are five wind turbines erected, none of which are turning. All of the other bases are in place but I could not see any active construction from my vantage points. There are workers around though, as their cars are parked along County Road 10 south of Milford.

    The idea that the CEO of wpd’s parent company should be criminally charged and extradited to Canada is ludicrous. The idea that the MNR should be disbanded is ludicrous. We live in a democracy that honours due process. Remember, wpd played by the rules, the rules set by a democratically elected government. Everyone will get their day in court but this is where outcomes will be decided. Mr. Ford cannot simply cancel legislation through an executive order. Thank goodness for that. Could you imagine the potential abuse of power if the courts were not able to opine on and enforce the laws of the land or if elected representatives couldn’t vote on passing or revoking legislation?

  32. Dennis Fox says:

    The total “black out” of 2003 originated in Ohio – but it was due to the lack of grid and transmission investment (updates) by the Harris government that allowed the American problem to become a wide spread Ontario one too. There was also the compounding problem of Ontario going through a heat wave and simply not having enough power to satisfy our needs – creating the perfect storm here. The “brown outs” that someone has referred to were certainly due to an inadequate supply of powerhere in Ontario – another let down by the Harris government of the day.

  33. james says:

    Electricity brownouts — No Ont. government was responsible for that 3-day brownout. It was the fault of a transmission system in the U.S.

    Learn a little history before babbling inanities. Are some of us living in la la land?

    Ask yourself when we last experienced a government that immediately after election addressed some voter issues.

  34. Fred says:

    Unfortunately I think WPD can proceed with their Liberal approval, fully construct and possibly even supply the grid while legislation to stop such action crawls to being legal .

  35. Dave says:

    Harmut,
    You were probably made aware how unpopular this project was with the local residents right from the very beginning, and yet you chose to go forward and accept the business risk.
    I am sure your lawyers will make a lot from this.

  36. Susan says:

    I believe the government backed the Ministry into a corner where they had to follow the green energy path and ignore their sworn duties to protect endangered species and the environment. Criminal indeed!

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