Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 12/98) - Electricity sales are considered one of the strongest economic indicators available.

If that's the case, NWT Power Corporation load usage and Northland Utilities electricity sales are indicating a decline in the local economy.

From October, 1997 to the end of March, 1998, the Power Corp saw a three per cent decrease in loads compared to the same time the previous year. That trend has continued in recent months.

"We've been used to growth in Yellowknife since whenever. It's always been growing. We usually have a three or five per cent growth. Some years it was upwards of seven or eight per cent," said Dan Grabke, area operations superintendent with the Power Corp.

In mid-winter 1995-96, loads were up past 15 million kilowatt hours, excluding mine usage. This winter, loads were down to about 14 million kilowatt hours. The average home uses about five kilowatts per hour.

Reasons could include an increase in energy consciousness, warmer weather in the last couple of years and less development in the city.

Power loads have also decreased at Yellowknife's mines.

"Giant went through an energy management program where they've improved their operation as far as wasting electricity. Con restructured and then went on strike," said Grabke.

Dan Roberts, director of Power Corp's central operations, said the loss of power usage is not having a large impact on their company's revenues. In fact, less usage means less cost to generate power from diesel generators in low water years, which they are experiencing this year.

"From the company's perspective it doesn't have a big effect on us. But from the Yellowknife perspective, you like to see growth all the time. So that's the down-side," said Roberts.

Jerome Babyn, manager at Northland Utilities in Yellowknife, said that if the Power Corp notices a decline, Northland in turn sees a drop in electricity sales.

"We have noticed, I guess, a fairly substantial decrease in energy-consumption in the city. If we look at it right from January, I think we can attribute quite a bit of it to the warmer winter. The other thing is a general downturn in the economy," said Babyn.

"We're not seeing much new construction. There's very few new projects that would contribute to ongoing loads that would offset traditionally what you might lose naturally in terms of the transient nature of the community."

This decrease in electricity sales is affecting Northland revenues, but Babyn said they won't be bumping up rates to recover revenues or offset expenses just yet.

"Rather than do that, because we want to keep some stability in the rates, we will look at internal savings that may be realized through attrition (leaving positions vacant when employees move on) or through postponing projects," he said.

"We're hopeful that the economy will take off here in 1999, so we're certainly going to try to hold the line, to try to reduce some of our costs so we won't have to apply for any kind of a rate increase."