Doug Ford says province will offer more money to keep EV battery plant in Windsor

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has promised the province will offer up more money towards the incentive package already on the table to keep Stellantis/LG from pulling the NextStar Energy battery plant from Windsor.

The premier made comments Friday at an event in Niagara.

“I will confirm we're putting more money on the table there,” said Ford. “This is all about saving jobs, and giving people the quality of life they deserve in southwestern Ontario.”

The premier would not divulge how much money the province would be putting up “until the announcement comes out,” but sounded optimistic that the federal requests for Ontario to step up to the plate and provide more funding to secure the deal would help solidify an agreement with Stellantis.

“This is going to be an opportunity to people that get great paying jobs. It's going to bring certainty and stability within that region,” said Ford.

Earlier this week, Stellantis issued a media release indicating it had halted construction on the module facility at the site of the NextStar Energy battery plant as they look for subsidies similar to ones given to Volkswagen for its newly announced EV battery plant in St. Thomas.

The blame was laid squarely on the federal government, which in turn looked to the province to pay their fair share.

Irek Kusmierczyk, the MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, said he was confident the parties would come to an agreement.

“I am 100 per cent confident we will have an agreement and that a battery plant will be built in Windsor,” said Kusmierczyk Friday, noting all parties are working together to come to an agreement.

“When residents see the scale of the investment that we're talking about, both in St. Thomas and in Windsor, they'll understand why we're talking so much about partnerships working together and lifting this together,” said Kusmierczyk. “It really is going to take all hands on deck.”

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who is away on vacation but has been working remotely to advocate for the project, says he hopes this is the final push needed to resume construction and sign a final agreement.Stellantis and LG Energy Solution EV battery plant construction site in Windsor, Ont., on Monday, May 15, 2023. (Sijia Liu/CTV News Windsor)

“I'm cautiously optimistic that these things will come together both with the support of the federal government and now that the province is you know, going to potentially ante up more money,” said Dilkens over the phone.

“The premier has been a very strong supporter of Windsor since the day he's been elected. And he understands quite completely how important this project is for not just the province of Ontario, but for Windsor-Essex as well,” he said.

The mayor indicated the importance of the battery plant includes the cell production facility, the module facility and the R&D jobs associated with the project, bringing the total number of jobs associated with the project to more than 3,000. That doesn’t include the potential for construction jobs, supply chain investments and other community spin-offs.

He wants to be sure all of these components are nailed down on short order.

“This needs to get resolved. I'm hopeful that it'll get resolved today before we move into this last weekend,” Dilkens said. “And that, you know, there's some certainty for the people in our community.”

Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin declined to comment on Friday.