Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 06/00) - Changes the GNWT is considering making to the power generation and distribution system in the North would have no impact on rates to Yellowknife consumers, said Finance Minister Joe Handley.
"Nothing changes, we still get our power largely through the Snare system and, when we need it, back-up from the Jackfish plant," said Handley. "Our costs here shouldn't change."
The day the report recommending the changes was released, Premier Stephen Kakfwi announced he would be taking over responsibility for the NWT Power Corporation from Yellowknife MLA Jake Ootes.
Kakfwi said he had the time and intergovernmental negotiating experience required to see the changes through. Kakfwi said the role aboriginal leaders would play in determining what changes will be made to power distribution in the territories is yet to be determined.
The Aboriginal Summit was briefed on the report last Friday.
"They said they want to be kept more informed about what we're thinking about and what we're doing," Kakfwi said of the meeting. "We think it's a legitimate request that we're going to take very seriously."
Northland Utilities, which holds power distribution franchises in six NWT communities, was among the stakeholders consulted during the review.
"As an investor-owned utility we would have hoped there would have been a little more analysis done on privatization as an option," said Jerome Babyn, manager of Northland's Yellowknife operation.
Great Slave MLA Bill Braden, an executive with the Power Corporation before entering politics last year, applauded the report.
"It goes beyond the corporation and really sets out what the opportunities and potentials are," said Braden. "In that sense it's a very good piece of work."
The money-making opportunities for export of hydro will rival those of diamonds and oil and gas, said Handley.
One opportunity the report keys on is the Talston dam, located west of Fort Resolution, less than 300 kilometres from major transmission grids in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Excess capacity at dam now could produce $2.7 million in revenue annually if sold to southern markets. The Talston river basin has the capacity to produce 11 times the amount of hydro power it currently generates without up river flooding, the report states.
But neither the government nor the NWT Power Corporation has the money required to build the dams that would generate the power or the transmission lines that would deliver it to southern markets.
The report recommends the Talston system be hived off and made part of a 'Resource Trust' that would invite investment from large southern users. The system would be leased to users on a long-term basis, NWTPC would operate it with a guaranteed supply to South Slave communities, and the government would charge a one cent per kilowatt hour levy on all power exports.
"We don't have to have a resource revenue sharing agreement or anything like that with the federal government," said Handley.
"This is our resource, we can collect it ourselves."
The finance minister said it would be 5-7 years before any large-scale expansion of the Talston system could take place. Community consultation on the report will begin this week and is expected to wrap up by the end of January, Handley said.
"Very quickly following that we would have a cabinet decision, know what we're going to implement, and be prepared for implementation by April 1," said Handley.
