SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An initial report completed by the NWT electricity review team notes a common theme of frustration around the territory about the delivery of power services and how to alleviate high energy costs.

Doug Matthews responds to one of several comments made by residents during a public discussion in Inuvik earlier this year on the future of electricity in the NWT. Panel members Gerry Forrest, seated, and Mark Cleveland look on. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

"If there were one word that could be said to summarize what the team heard over the last few months, that word would be frustration," the report states in the opening paragraph. "Virtually everyone the team talked with - customer, community leader or company representative - expressed his or her frustration with one or more aspects of the NWT's electricity system."

The report outlines a list of frustrations from consumers, including issues with the Public Utilities Board - a complicated and costly regulatory system with an apparent lack of concern for customer issues, the report states.

Organizations ranging from Ecology North, Northland Utilities and the Northwest Territories Power Corporation weighed in on how they saw things and what might need to be done to improve the role of the Public Utilities Board.

Ecology North stated the current regulatory system works fine, but it's not up the board to lower costs. Northland Utilities said the board should be more focused on "high level matters, such as the determination of utility costs and rate structures and should avoid intervention in day-to-day matters of utility operations."

Joe Acorn, chair of the Public Utilities Board, said the concerns raised in the report vary and the board would likely form a response to the final report, expected to come out by late this summer.

"There was a variety of things said, from abolishing (the board), to keeping it the same, to changing it," Acorn said. "There isn't much for us to react to just yet."

Mark Cleveland, spokesperson for the review team, said they are pleased with the input.

"It was a very broad orientation by most folks in terms of the issues and the challenges," he said. "I think we were surprised at the broad nature of the comments and also the sense that a lot of the issues focused attention over time. There was a good understanding of that which I think was more than we expected."

The review team, comprised of Cleveland, Gerry Forrest and Doug Matthews, sought to provide background information on the NWT's electricity system to outline a number of issues that would benefit from public input.

Public discussion on the key issues started in February of this year and Cleveland said they have their work cut out for them over the coming months.

"I think there was a lot of interest in seeing improvement and the comments ranged to a lot of different areas," he said.

Acorn said they've got a tough job and there is a lot of widely varying opinions on what to do.

"They've got a lot of data to go through if they want to come up with something that satisfies a lot of the concerns that have been raised. It's going to be impossible to satisfy everyone but I'm sure they'll do the best they can."

A second report will be completed late this summer outlining recommendations the team believes to be necessary. The report will analyze information and data being collected during the first phase of the review, summarize research, experiences and strategies that could be useful to the NWT to create a vision for the future.