Thank you, Mr. Chair. So what will happen is there will be a $12 million transfer to NTPC, and they are to use that for their operations. So their operations are funded by ratepayers, so instead of getting the full cost of those operation -- the full cost of operations from ratepayers, they'll get part of it -- majority of it from ratepayers, but $12 million of those operating costs will come from the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go back to Yellowknife North -- sorry, Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I was wondering if they could -- the Minister, department, or the staff, could elaborate as to how that $12 million calculation came to be and specifically what areas of shortfall were identified to make that $12 million as the targeted total. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I certainly do have that -- it's not necessarily in the supplementary estimate documents or background materials; I certainly can get that to Members. I'm just not finding -- I mean, that's what I'm digging back now to before the winter break. So I don't have that coming up quickly. Yes, I'll have to get back to the Member with the breakdown of how we landed on that number. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you for that. I will certainly accept it. Did NTPC suggest with respect to how urgent this particular need is and what documentation have they broken down to say if we don't have this by X date, we will have to consider Y solution? Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The urgency of this was due to the timing of the required generate applications, so the deadline for that was the end of October and so there was a desire to get this in as quickly as possible to reflect that timing, and so there's a supplementary estimate here now. This is the earliest time we could put it before the House but wanted to see that it's part of the process of the public utilities board which is underway right now. That was the timing issue. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Is there any current financial urgency or impact that this has not been approved as of yet?

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, if -- as I think one of the Members earlier was asking, the public utilities board does need to know that there's been a confirmed approval to provide some form of subsidy to what otherwise wouldn't be costs that would be borne by ratepayers so that it can be considered as part of their process. If it doesn't get approved, it won't be considered as part of that process is my understanding. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Has the PUB or someone else articulated that deadline? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the proposed GRA would be for this fiscal year and so it would have to be -- it would have to be part of the assessment. It has to be part of the assessment, so -- yes, we can't sort of wait until they're done their review or wait until they issue their determination because their determination needs to take into account whether or not there's going to be a process. And the current year is also under consideration -- or the 2024-2025 year is under consideration so therefore it needs to be part of that year. That's why it's part of this final supp. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you for that. Is the Minister saying that, suggesting, or implying, the PUB process is being held up on this point? Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, that's not my understanding. So we did file -- or the Northwest Territories Power Corporation did file its rate application in time for October 30th, and by that point were able to sort of notify or say that there would be a subsidy included. A formal letter then gets issued ultimately from the Department of Finance, from my office, to confirm that the subsidy has been approved. So they're aware that it has been proposed and hopefully coming and not my understanding that it's held up. There's quite a lot that's involved. It's, you know, many hundreds of pages of materials that are filed to describe and to detail what different costs are. We understand that that work is underway. I'm not privy to where they're at or what their timeline is. So I don't think it's being held up. I'm not told that it is, but I am -- it's quite clear that we need to show that it's part of this year in order for it to be applied to that part of the proposed rate increase. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just before I get into my question, I want to clearly state I like, respect, admire the important role NWT Power Corp does and delivers. So the next question isn't specific criticism against them, but it's how did they come up with the $12 million rather than just going to the magic 8-ball and saying how much do we need, how do you know; you know, those types of things? Like, where is that information on the basis of that dollar amount? Again, that's not about disrespecting them. I mean, to me, it could have been $18 million. It could be $6 million. It's the same. We're sitting here saying they just asked for this, so I'm asking where does this number come from.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.