Inuvik (May 06/05) - By the end of October, nearly all of Inuvik's electricity needs will be covered by natural gas when a third gas generator, shipped from California last month, is expected to be up and running.

Mike Van Bridger, assistant generation manager for the power corporation, stands beside one of the Inuvik plant's two gas generators, currently undergoing a complete overhaul.

The 79,000lb, 2.8 megawatt machine will join the two gas generators already operating at the power corporation's Inuvik plant.

As the price of natural gas is approximately 45 per cent less than diesel, customers can expect some savings on their monthly utility bills, though not for a while. In January, power corp. president and CEO Leon Courneya invited the Town of Inuvik to get in on the $2.5 million upgrade.

"If the town decides to support the project, the cost would be included in rates during the next General Rates Application and the benefits of the project would also be included," wrote Courneya.

"If the town decides not to support the project, then I would like to enter into an agreement with the town that would be filed with the Public Utilities Board that all costs and benefits of the project be excluded from consideration in Inuvik's rates at future GRAs."

Mayor Peter Clarkson confirmed Monday that the town did indeed file a letter of support for the project.

"It makes good economic sense and gets us off diesel," he said of the project, which is funded by the power corp.

"In the long run it will mean lower operating costs for power generation."

And this is especially good for the town, according to the power corporation's Delta-Sahtu generation manager Terry Rafferty, as the Family Centre consumes about as much electricity as the entire community of Sachs Harbour.

As Inuvik's demand for power averages out at about a 5.6 megawatt hour load over the course of a year, the third gas generator will relegate the diesel generator to emergencies or when maintenance work is required on the gas generators.

Rafferty says between the months of November and March, both gas generators and the diesel have generally been required to meet Inuvik's electricity needs.

"And the load is growing," he said.

Power Corp. spokesperson Chris Zorica says that right now it is too early to tell how the cost of the project will affect electricity bills in Inuvik.

"There's a significant amount of time between now and the next GRA," he said.

"We're moving towards installation and at the moment we're concentrating on that."