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INUVIK - Three energy policy experts who hosted a public meeting here last week on the future of electricity in the NWT got an earful from angry residents fed up with skyrocketing power rates.

"At the end of the year I pay $1,000 more than I do for my home. There's nowhere else in Canada that that actually happens and we're only a family of two," said Darelene Burden.

Doug Matthews responds to one of several comments made by residents while fellow panel members Gerry Forrest, seated, and Mark Cleveland look on at a public discussion on the future of electricity in the NWT on March 4. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photos

"It's coming down to the point do I stay in Inuvik or do I move? And I think that's what government really needs to consider."

Burden and about 45 town residents, which included the mayor and several councillors, attended the March 4 discussion at the community hall, which ran half an hour over its two-hour schedule.

Many residents slammed the Crown corporation for allowing huge rate discrepancies among communities including Colville Lake, which pays four times as much as Inuvik for its electricity.

The expert panel, which included Gerry Forrest, Doug Matthews and Mark Cleveland, was appointed by the territorial government as part of its effort to get public input on planned electricity reform territory-wide.

Picked primarily for their wealth of experience in the public utilities sector, the trio, which made its first stop in Inuvik, will hold five other community forums across the NWT in April, focusing on electricity regulation, rates and subsidy programs. After the final forum, scheduled for April 23 in Yellowknife, the trio will present its findings in a report to the government.

Matthews said the current residential subsidy program, which equals Yellowknife's residential rate up to 700 kWh, isn't sustainable. Business owners criticized the Power Corp's current commercial subsidy program, saying it's too restrictive and doesn't offer enough financial help.

As a potential solution residents argued for a territory-wide blended rate, which would help level the playing field. Under the proposed plan, customers would pay the same rate with some residents paying a little more for service depending on their location.

Several residents accused the power corporation of mismanagement, squandering millions while providing an inefficient and unreliable service.

Many argued the Public Utilities Board (PUB), which regulates electricity rates and spent more than $2 million last year, should be scrapped immediately.

With power rates going through the roof, some in attendance questioned why the government wasn't putting more effort into developing alternative energy sources such as hydroelectricity and geothermal energy.

The panel reminded the audience that change would be difficult, especially in deciding who would pay for new energy studies or proposed energy subsidy programs.

Tom Zubko, who spent nine years in the 1990s serving on both the PUB and the NWT Power Corp Board, attended last Wednesday's meeting. He said he has little faith in the government-owned corporation, or that any of the suggestions made at the meeting will be implemented. He said he is excited about whether the government will accept a merger proposal from the private electricity company ATCO, submitted last month.

"A company that is owned at least in part by private interest would have a lot more interest in doing things differently than a company 100 per cent owned by the government," he said.

Matthews said he sympathizes with residents' frustration with the government and said he was surprised with how well-informed residents were on the issues, which he said emphasizes the importance of reflecting the communities' ideas back to government.