We do have a policy. We quite rigorously police ourselves. As was raised in the House earlier, the issue with Minister Ramsay has been dealt with and the file is closed for a very, very small discrepancy. Things have been tightened up. Yes, we believe that we should have an even hand when we apply overdue travel claims since there are cases where MLAs accompany Ministers on foreign travel. There are some outstanding claims and we are encouraging those outstanding claims to be completed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to take a few moments of the House time to acknowledge, recognize and pay tribute to the award recently bestowed on Sonny McDonald, Order of the NWT.

Sonny McDonald was a long-term employee of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. For 17 years he held the fort on the Mackenzie River Basin Board, as we slowly got our thinking clear, and left just before we finally negotiated an agreement with Alberta, an issue that he always brought up to me as something that was undone and needed to get busy on.

He’s also very well-known internationally as a carver. As you can see today, he’s not in the best of health, but he’s still a presence, and the carving to your left, Mr. Speaker, is a Sonny McDonald carving.

I would just like to congratulate him and take that opportunity. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, or NTPC, continues to adapt and manage its resources to meet the needs of the ever-changing environment of power generation in the North.

For the second year in a row, NTPC is addressing low water on the Snare hydro system; however, extremely low water at Bluefish this year has added to the challenge. While NTPC is effectively managing the use of water and diesel to ensure a stable power supply to the North Slave, this government, with the support of the Legislative Assembly, contributed $20 million to ensure that additional diesel costs were not incurred by the customer.

Mr. Speaker, looking to develop long-term solutions, NTPC is issuing an expression of interest, for both solar and wind installations, possibly at the Snare Lake hydro facility in the North Slave to determine if there is the possibility of economically adding these alternative energy sources to the generation mix to help offset some of the diesel, should this drought persist.

The 2015 Energy Charrette provided direction, and NTPC continues to make decisions and move forward with initiatives that are aligned with the charrette’s outcomes. Specifically, a power purchase agreement has been signed with the community of

Lutselk’e to purchase the power from a community-owned solar installation and surplus power generated at the Taltson hydro plant is being used to supply interruptible heat to community-owned buildings. NTPC continues to partner with the newly formed Department of Public Works and Services along with the Arctic Energy Alliance to promote the PowerWise conservation campaign acting in the best interest of the customer by helping them lower their power bills, ultimately lowering the cost of living in the territory.

Mr. Speaker, Colville Lake had phase one of its solar array installed in 2014, which peaked in May 2015 at 54 kilowatts of solar energy. The completion of the second array occurred in June 2015. These two installations, in conjunction with the new Colville Lake power plant, including battery energy storage, will provide the community with a higher level of reliable power and is an innovative project that has drawn considerable attention from power generation experts outside the territory.

Introducing additional alternative renewables into the thermal communities includes the research of two potential wind sites in the Beaufort-Delta region. At this time, research continues to determine which of the two sites – Storm Hills or High Point – has the best business case based on amount of wind recorded and the distance of the site from town; the further away from the community, the more expensive to transmit.

Mr. Speaker, NTPC will also complete the conversion from high pressure sodium, or HPS, to LED streetlights in all thermal communities by the end of this fiscal year. LED streetlights cost, on average, $40 per month per light, less than HPS, which will result in a significant savings for community governments.

Mr. Speaker, in the first 14 months of the Inuvik liquid natural gas, or LNG, plant operation, $1.1 million was saved as compared to the diesel-only alternative and the use of LNG displaced 2,300 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the community. With a showing this strong, NTPC and the Department of Public Works and Services are completing a business case and design feasibility for a new LNG storage and generation facility in the town of Fort Simpson. However, to ensure it is the best solution for that community, the business case will include a comparison against other alternatives such as biomass combined heat and power solutions.

Mr. Speaker, to assist the GNWT, Natural Resources Canada and Arctic Energy Alliance to track energy consumption of their commercial buildings in Jean Marie River, NTPC is piloting an Advanced Metering System, or AMS, in that community before the end of this fiscal year. All 42 customers will have new AMS meters installed that provide usage at various intervals for tracking purposes. However, there are other beyond-the-meter benefits that can be used in the future to provide customers with two-way meter communications to manage other household appliances and alarms.

Continuing to look for ways to lower the cost of living and the cost of power, NTPC bid on the Town of Hay River’s power distribution request for proposals and will continue to work with the community to look at lowering its costs. Hay River is looking for an asset valuation before they make a decision.

Under normal circumstances, I would be tabling the fiscal 2015 annual reports for NT Hydro and NTPC during this session of the Legislative Assembly. However, this year NT Hydro and NTPC are converting to the Public Sector Accounting Standard, and as a result of the additional work required to report under this new standard, the year-end audit is taking longer than previous years. For fiscal 2015 and going forward, NT Hydro will now be consolidated within the GNWT public accounts on a line-by-line basis, increasing the disclosure related to this Crown corporation.

NTPC will continue to operate as efficiently as possible, concentrating on providing safe, affordable and reliable power generation. NTPC will also continue to support the GNWT energy and solar strategy by working together with the Department of Public Works and Services energy division to incorporate more renewables into the Territories’ power generation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 71, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2015-2016, be read for the third time.

Just very quickly to provide reassurance to the long-time serving Member who knows we have a rigorous process here and we pride ourselves on trying to be fair and even-handed across the North. The requirements for Norman Wells, when those facilities proceed, will be given the same kind of consideration that all facilities are given to make sure that the qualities of service are there. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There was a hard look taken at this, as there are a lot of our expenses as we look at our fiscal challenges, and it was determined that what is before the House is what the Hay River Hospital could make work with the resources that are available. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The potential for possible savings, I know it’s 20 percent. I just wasn’t quite sure it would be of $2.2 million. We are going to be putting out expressions of interest to do five and 10 megawatts of power here. To actually put the solar on the ground is probably $35 million or so. So we are going to be committing to some very serious investments here in Yellowknife in the coming years as we are going to be up and down the valley as we move to make these critical investments managing our debt limit and those types of things. Yes, there is going to be continued commitment to invest major dollars. I would suggest far and above savings we might realize from this particular low water surcharge. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The most immediate one is the 10 percent we’ve talked about and taking advantage of what was budgeted and what we anticipate or know we are going to be paying here in the foreseeable future, leaving us enough room should there be any kind of subsequent increase. If we budget a dollar and we get it at 80 cents a litre, I’d have to ask Mr. Kalgutkar to do the math for me to give us an idea, or Mr. Aumond, to give us an idea, but this is how we’ve accommodated putting this money into conservation was on that gap.

The Member raises good points. What was once old is new again. I mean, I’ve been a homeowner for just about 40 years and I’ve had a woodstove from the very first time I set up housekeeping with my expectant wife. Now, it’s been rediscovered and it’s like a technology or a skill that people have lost and have to relearn. Yes, we do sit in the heart of the Boreal Forest.

We’re also, in Norman Wells, for example, building up something of a biomass industry where they’re bringing in pellets. Businesses and homes are converting. The Power Corporation is still on natural gas. Everybody else has been given their notice and we’re making the switch. The thing about natural gas is it’s demonstrated to be somewhat cheaper than diesel, about 20 to 25 percent cheaper. When the price of oil was a bit higher, the difference with biomass was about 30 to 40 percent. Plus it’s a renewable resource. A lot of it is locally harvested and just about all of it will be once the pellet mill gets put in place.

In terms of the power, we’re looking at about $30 million for one megawatt. Lutselk'e, when the studies were done, and we invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Deline to prove that out, and if they want to go bigger and put in a transmission line for two other communities and it’s more than one megawatt, then that price of that hydro dam would increase accordingly and it would be a bigger impact.

There are, in my mind, with today’s technology some better investments. For example, I’ve mentioned Lutselk'e where we have a power purchase agreement with the Lutselk'e community and Bulldog Power for a power purchase agreement, and they’ve put up, I think, 35 kilowatts of power and it’s feeding into the grid.

There are some that would say it’s just for show, it doesn’t really work. But what the solar people have shown us is that you get seven months of good solar here and if you can cut all your other energy requirements for seven months and then only get a marginal solar output and have to use other types of backup, you’re better off than just say, ah, it’s not worth it and just keep burning diesel. As we know here in Yellowknife, burning diesel is not an option.

We have intentions in the coming years to go across the territory. For example, all the thermal communities, especially the small ones, have all been changed out with LED streetlights to cut the demands. The money that we’re putting in that Deputy Minister Aumond talked about is going to be available there to all the communities. We are, in the 18thAssembly, those of us who come back, are going to have to look at some significant investments in Yellowknife, up in Inuvik, where you could put in nine megawatts of power that would cut the diesel consumption in the Northwest Territories for generation in half, which would be a cost savings as well as huge impact on our carbon footprint.

We have lots of work to do. We’ve come a long way in the last four or five years, but clearly, there are a lot of things to do in terms of the energy sources that we use and the affordability.