Iqaluit (Nov 08/04) - If power bills go up, businesses all across Nunavut will suffer, said City of Iqaluit officials and Iqaluit business owners.

About 50 people turned out to the Arctic Winter Games arena Friday, to slam the Qulliq Energy Corp.'s one-rate electricity proposal during a public Utilities Rates Review Council (URRC) hearing.

The URRC was created to advise the government what rates for power should be.

Under QEC's one-rate proposal, Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Iglulik, Panniqtuuq, Cape Dorset, Baker Lake and Cambridge Bay power bills will increase the most.

In Iqaluit, the rate paid by businesses will go up 92.4 per cent over the next three years. In Rankin Inlet, the increase would be 65.9 per cent.

Former Iqaluit councillor Keith Irving said there "is a profound lack of public confidence" in the QEC.

"To what extent should consumers pay for poor management practises?" asked Irving.

Irving quoted from the report by federal auditor general Sheila Fraser, which highlighted the failings of Qulliq's predecessor, Nunavut Power Corporation, noting that it lost $13.1 million since its inception in 2001.

Kenn Harper, owner of Arctic Ventures, 90 North and Auyuittuq Lodge in Panniqtuuq, said the proposed rate structure will discourage anyone from starting a business.

"If you want to start one, don't. If you've got one, too bad," is how Harper put it.

He added it was unfair consumers should bear the burden for "rampant mismanagement" on QEC's part, and he suggested the Government of Nunavut (GN), the main shareholder of QEC, pay all of QEC's debt.

Harper said, upon closer inspection of the rate structure, the communities hit hardest have the most private businesses in them, while the communities with the lowest hike have the most government offices and staff.

The URRC has 90 days to make a recommendation to the GN about the power rate.

Hearings are scheduled for Iglulik today, Arctic Bay Tuesday, Grise Fiord on Wednesday and Pond Inlet on Thursday.

Meetings are also planned for Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet, Arviat and Coral Harbour.

Public hearings scheduled for Nov. 4 regarding the Qulliq Energy general rate application were post-poned due to poor weather.

The hearings are being put on by the Utility Rates Review Council, which is charged with deciding whether or not to approve Qulliq's one-rate proposal. After a tour of other communities, additional Iqaluit hearings will be held Nov. 29-30, in place of the cancelled sessions.

Qulliq Energy Corporation's territorial rate structure proposal for businesses, to be phased in over three years: Proposed rate: 0.4983 ($/kWh)

Rate increases will hit businesses in these communities as follows:

Iqaluit - 92.4 per cent
Rankin Inlet - 65.9 per cent
Iglulik - 64.1 per cent
Panniqtuuq - 54.1 per cent
Cambridge Bay - 41.3 per cent
Baker Lake - 41. 2 per cent
Cape Dorset - 36.1 per cent
Clyde River - 32.7 per cent
Arviat - 23.5 per cent
Repulse Bay - 21.1 per cent
Arctic Bay - 14.6 per cent
Sanikiluaq - 14.5 per cent
Qikiqtarjuaq - 10.7 per cent
Pond Inlet - 7.9 per cent
Hall Beach - 4.0 per cent
Gjoa Haven - 3.9 per cent
Coral Harbour - 2.4 per cent
Kugluktuk - 2.3 per cent

The following communities will see decreases in their power bills:

Chesterfield Inlet - 2.8 per cent
Taloyoak - 9.1 per cent
Resolute - 9.1 per cent
Pelly Bay - 14.1 per cent
Grise Fiord - 17.8 per cent
Kimmirut - 22.3 per cent
Whale Cove - 42.0 per cent