There are many innovative and new ways of producing energy. I’m afraid that with the comments I’m hearing back from communities of wanting to get away from NTPC, they’re thinking that they can bring in their own means of generating energy in the community that would be more cost-effective than being served by
NTPC. A while back we thought about creating a monopoly with NTPC for the communities that they were serving.
In specific relation to Hay River I have some concerns here. NTPC has hydro at the Taltson which they wholesale to NUL, and NUL retails it and sells it and distributes it in Hay River.
To the mandate of NTPC. I have a copy of a letter here where the president of NTPC is writing to Minister McLeod saying that NTPC does not have a duty to serve Hay River — this rests with NUL — and that their relationship with Hay River is similar to selling power to Esso or anybody else. So to the mandate of NTPC, I would hope that the communities and the residents of the Northwest Territories would be somewhere in their priorities.