Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is very welcome news that the new power plant will be constructed in Sachs Harbour. My hope is that this will be a first step to reduce the cost of electricity for residents in the community and, of course, a cleaner source of energy.

Mr. Speaker, the current power plant is 43 years old, so there's plenty of room for improvement and modernization. I think we can expect a new 6-kilowatt plant to be more reliable when it goes into service in 2020.

The new plant is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power plant by 283 tonnes per year and improve fuel efficiency by 18 percent. It will not save the world from climate change, but it shows that the GNWT is doing their part in the North, Mr. Speaker, where the impact of climate change is the greatest.

There are also future benefits to be held from installing the new plant announced earlier this week. It is a much more flexible system that makes it easier to incorporate renewable energy.

Sachs Harbour has a lot of wind, and we know from experience with our previous turbine that wind power is viable in the community. It is just a matter of getting the technology up and running. In the long term, the plan is for 20 to 30 percent of the community's electricity to come from wind, but it could be more. The technology is certainly out there.

The first step of putting in the new plant will cost almost $10 million. About three quarters of the money is coming from Canada's Arctic Energy Fund, with the rest from the Government of the Northwest Territories. This kind of investment is really overdue across the Northwest Territories, especially in Nunakput.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of generating electricity in the region is very high, but we also have some of the best potential for wind generation in the Northwest Territories. In time, we hope to see more of these systems sprouting up in every community in Nunakput. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.