Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to say yes I “con,” I “con” support the City of Yellowknife district energy system.
---Laughter
I “con” vote yes on referendum day, next Monday, and I will vote yes. I support the City’s Geothermal District Energy System Project and I’m excited by the concept of a district energy system, and I’m excited by the long-term benefits that will accrue to both the city and its residents.
Like many city homeowners, when I first heard the details of the project, I heard that it would supply heat to 39 downtown buildings. I wondered what was in it for me. Would there be a benefit to me as a single-family homeowner? Would my taxes go up because of the $49 million loan? Could I expect the price of oil to go up in the future because of this
project? The answers are yes, I will benefit; no, my taxes won’t go up; and no, the price of oil won’t increase.
In the short term, homeowners will benefit through revenues from heat energy sales, which will go to the City because it will be a major shareholder in the district energy company. In the long term, the company will expand to possibly provide heat to all residents of Yellowknife. It might take 30 or 50 years, but eventually we can be off all the oil as a heat energy source.
Any loan taken out by the City for this project will be an expense of the energy company, separate from City expenses and will be paid off through the energy company, not through our taxes. In fact, we may even see a reduction in our taxes because of this new revenue source for the City.
You’ve heard about other aspects of this project from other Members. I’ve focused on the impact that it will have on individual city residents. For me the benefits far outweigh the negatives. I know more work is needed before this project can go ahead. A yes vote on Monday will allow for that work, the necessary research and study, which will determine if the project should proceed. A no vote stops everything right now, before the study and the evaluation of the viability of the project has been completed and it wastes the man hours and the money spent to date.
I will be voting yes on Monday for two reasons: because it addresses the long-term sustainability of my home community and because I “con.” I urge all Yellowknifers to get out to the polls on Monday and do the same.