Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation is working to provide residents, communities and businesses of the Northwest Territories with a safe and reliable source of electricity that is both cost effective and environmentally sustainable.
NTPC’s renewed strategic plan is aligned with a number of this Assembly’s key strategies, from the Greenhouse Gas Strategy, the Biomass Energy Strategy and the Solar Strategy, to the Energy Plan and Power System Plan that will soon be tabled in the Legislature.
NTPC plays a critical role in our government’s plan to move the territory’s energy supply away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources which are cleaner and less vulnerable to price fluctuations. We are starting to see real success in this area at the community level.
Take the 100 kilowatt Fort Simpson Solar Energy Project, the largest solar installation in the North. The project demonstrated that solar technology can work in the North, and delivered on the objectives of the NWT’s Solar Strategy. The energy output is equivalent to powering 17 houses in the community and removing more than 76 tonnes of CO
2
from the
air. It also strengthens the case for NTPC’s net metering program which provides the tools for customers to benefit from supplying surplus solar power into the grid. NTPC is also working with communities to explore other renewable energy sources, including small hydro. Over the past year we have installed a water monitoring station on the
Kakisa River which will help to define the hydro potential that could one day power the community.
In Colville Lake we are now in the design phase of a project that will see a solar/diesel/battery system that will shut down the diesel plant for extended periods in the summer. It is anticipated this hybrid energy solution could significantly reduce diesel use and related emissions by supplying most of the community’s energy requirements during the summer. This initiative is of interest to communities in the NWT and is being watched closely by utilities in other jurisdictions such as Alaska.
In addition to advancing renewable energy projects, NTPC continues to transition towards environmentally-sound and cost-effective energy choices. A territory-wide program to replace traditional streetlights with LEDs will convert one or two communities per year and cut operating costs of the lights in half. Those savings will be shared with customers. Gameti was the first community to benefit earlier this year. Lutselk’e and Jean Marie River are next on the list.
Mr. Speaker, as we build momentum with these community-based power generation and conservation initiatives, more communities and customers will start to see how they can help improve the energy future of the NWT.
The storage facility for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is nearing completion in Inuvik. Construction commenced in the late summer, with tanks and equipment arriving in September. The facility will be operational by the end of November.
LNG is cleaner with more than a 25 percent reduction in emissions and a lower-cost fuel that will displace diesel in Inuvik. LNG shows promise for reducing emissions and lowering costs in our road-connected diesel communities. Since 1964, LNG has maintained the best safety record of any fossil fuel. It is safer to transport and store than diesel and it leaves no trace in the event of a spill.
We are hopeful that following a successful transition to LNG in Inuvik, we will be able to expand use of LNG to other road-connected communities like Fort Simpson, Fort Liard, Fort McPherson and possibly Jean Marie River. Feasibility of winter road communities – Deline, Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope, Tsiigehtchic and Tuktoyaktuk – will also be explored. Despite its
exceptional safety record, Mr. Speaker, we must recognize that LNG is new to the NWT and that communities will need more information and dialogue in order to feel confident about its potential.
In Yellowknife the key issue remains reliability. NTPC is committed to making improvements and has pledged to achieve a 70 percent reduction in the frequency of power interruptions over the next three years. This would bring the average number of NTPC interruptions down to five or less per year in Yellowknife. This fall the corporation reported significant progress, with 47 percent fewer outages than last year. While there is still much work to be done in comparison with the national average of 2.5 outages per year, I have confidence that the 15-point plan developed by NTPC will result in ongoing and noticeable improvements.
Mr. Speaker, NTPC is also keeping the big picture in mind. The corporation is actively investigating the potential for a transmission grid project that could transform the electricity industry in the Northwest Territories, stabilize and reduce the cost of power and significantly improve the conditions for economic development.
The vision is to build an integrated power transmission grid between the North Slave and South Slave hydro systems that attracts industrial customers and connects to the Canadian grid.
Mr. Speaker, this represents a big undertaking, with big potential benefits for the NWT and for Canada. Securing our energy future by providing much needed infrastructure would allow us to dramatically reduce reliance on diesel generation, including industrial loads. It would also mean we could provide residents and businesses with power at a lower cost, which would in turn stimulate economic activity.
Such a system would provide an energy highway for us to move existing hydro power around the territory in response to demand and to import electricity from the South when northern demand exceeds supply. In the future this would also position the NWT to expand our hydro potential to better meet our domestic needs while moving our cost of electricity more in line with the rest of Canada over time.
We have initiated discussions with the federal government to remove financial barriers and invest in energy infrastructure to make this project a reality. We are in preliminary discussions with Saskatchewan and Alberta with respect to connecting to their grid. I am looking forward to seeing where these discussions lead.
Mr. Speaker, NTPC is also striving to keep power affordable for all its customers. The general rate application process is winding down, and while no one welcomes the resulting rate increases, I can
assure you that we have worked to lessen the impact on customers, by avoiding large increases and spreading smaller increases out over time.
As an employer, NTPC continues to make the development of a northern workforce its key human resource priority. This year NTPC hired four local apprentices: an apprentice power lineperson and an apprentice diesel mechanic in Fort Simpson, an apprentice electrician in Fort Smith and an apprentice power lineperson located in Inuvik. The corporation has also recently recruited an apprentice electrician in Fort Simpson, has an offer pending to an apprentice diesel mechanic in Yellowknife and competitions closing for apprentice power linepersons in Fort Smith and Inuvik.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the overall level of collaboration I am seeing between our government and NTPC. This has resulted in better alignment between GNWT and NTPC goals and objectives.
NTPC will continue to work in partnership with government, communities, industry and its customers. Given the critical role power plays in the future prosperity of the NWT, this type of collaboration can only strengthen the position of our territory today and in the years to come. Thank you Mr. Speaker.