Hay River (Mar 22/04) - It's still just a concept, but it's a big one.

A three-party consortium has spent $2 million planning a $200 million project to produce more hydroelectricity on the Taltson River, east of Fort Smith, and sell it to the NWT's diesel-powered diamond mines.

"It's pretty ambitious," said Hay River resident Doug Camsell, after sitting through a public information meeting in Hay River last week.

Meetings were also held in Fort Smith and Fort Resolution.

"What we have at the moment is a concept," said Dan Grabke of project partner NWT Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

The other partners are the Akaitcho Territory Government and the Metis Energy Corporation Ltd. They want to expand the Twin Gorges site to produce 58 megawatts of power. Currently the site can produce up to 18 megawatts, but only eight are actually used.

A transmission line would be built to carry the power north to the planned Snap Lake diamond mine.

A project description could be ready by June, and an environmental assessment and review could take about two years.

That means construction could start by 2006.

"We could have power to the diamond mines by 2008," said Grabke.

Jason Lepine of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation said the annual potential economic returns would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first 15 years and grow to tens of millions after 30 years when construction debt is paid off.

The partners signed a memorandum of understanding in June and expect to have a memorandum of intent to set up a new company by next month.

The new unnamed company would also look at other opportunities, Lepine says, including building a power line to southern markets and other NWT diamond mines.

A number of issues and concerns were raised at the public meetings.

"People want to know what's in it for them," said Brian McCutcheon, the community meetings co-ordinator for the partners.

McCutcheon added that users of the land also want to know how they will be protected.

Lepine noted some trappers want compensation for loss of territory and lifestyle caused by from when the Taltson was built in the 1960s.

The issue of how the project would affect power rates in the South Slave was also raised.

Lepine said he would like to insulate the region from rate increases.

"We're not here to make money off Hay River, Fort Resolution and Fort Smith."