Thank you, Mr. Chair. I lied. I found, in the fine print, one more question.
The last few words on the page there, “the NWT electricity system analysis” is part of the energy budget here. At first blush, one might hope that we’re talking about smart read technology or smart meters, time of day pricing, hybridizing with renewables, things that would actually reduce the cost of living. But I understand, in retrospect, that in fact what we’re talking about is spending money on feasibility studies to connect the grids, especially with the southern grid so we can import dirty, coal-fired energy and perhaps find a naïve customer to buy our expensive electricity.
I would just note, most of these items on this page are electricity items, which accounts for about 4 percent of our energy budget. If we really want to
be efficient and address the cost of living, there are much better ways that we can do it than what is being proposed here.
Just for clarity, can I find out how much we have spent in contracts on feasibility studies for connecting grids in the current year’s budget and what’s being proposed here for spending on those same feasibility studies and what amount we have out in contracts currently? Thank you.