Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is not
news to anyone that the NWT residents pay very high costs for electricity compared to southern Canada. Some of the extra costs can be explained by economies of scale. However, I believe that more could be done to reduce the NWT Power Corporation's expenses and the burden they put on our ratepayers.
The NWT Power Corporation's electricity rates are approved by the Public Utilities Board and are based on the case the corporation makes to the PUB
for its revenue needs based on expenses.
I believe this approach is backwards and needs to be revisited. It does not provide enough accountability for its spending. The NWT Power Corporation should be adjusting its expenses based on revenues, not the other way around. In other words, it should have a budget set for it by this Assembly. It should have to work within that budget instead of going back to the power customers — people like you and me — for more and more money. Where is the incentive for the NWT Power Corporation to look for savings and efficiencies to keep their costs down? There are none.
For example, I've heard people question the shiny new trucks and the performance bonuses at a time when the cost of living keeps increasing. Our power bills are already too high, and the government is cutting back. So where is the Power Corporation's incentive to hustle for that buck? There isn't one.
When the customers are held hostage, there is little incentive for them to ever worry about the customers leaving, because there are no other utilities for them to go to. Where is that accountability to this Legislature? It's one customer, Mr. Speaker. So I will be interested in hearing what the Minister has to say is his approach for alternative ways to ensure that the NWT Power Corporation works as thriftily as possible so they do not pass unnecessary expenses on to their customers.