SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - In the wake of discussion on the troubled Deh Cho Bridge project, MLAs voiced their opposition to the proposed route and funding of the Taltson River hydroelectric facility expansion.

On March 24 in the legislative assembly, MLAs said the territorial government should learn from cost overruns in the bridge project and use caution before plunging into long-term power purchase agreements.

Deze Energy Corporation has pitched a $500-million expansion of the hydroelectric site and a 690-km transmission line that would stretch from the hydro site 50 km northeast of Fort Smith, around the eastern end of Great Slave Lake, and on to the diamond mines.

Many MLAs said they wanted the expansion routed over the Simpson Islands so the power lines could be plugged into the Snare Lake system and benefit customers in Yellowknife, as well as servicing Avalon Rare metals proposed processing plant at Pine Point.

Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen said she wanted the GNWT to do more to allow residents and small businesses to benefit from the expansion.

"It's like having a banquet and we own the banquet hall and we are putting on the food, we are doing everything but we can't afford to buy the ticket to come to the banquet because we don't have that kind of resources," she said.

Great Slave MLA Glen Abernethy said he wanted an independent assessment to consider other routes. He said he wants the premier to look into finding a third-party partner to help fund the project so the financing wouldn't rely on the mines.

Premier Floyd Roland said it was the diamond mines or nothing. If the GNWT wanted to come up with alternate routes, it would have to come up with money to pay for it, he said.

"This project has been built on the business case, not offsets from the GNWT, no subsidies, purely on a business case of the ratepayer being, in this case, the diamond mines. If they don't sign onto this and make it feasible, then there is no project."

Roland said in order for the project to work, it would have to be cheaper for the diamond mines to buy power than it would be for them to ship up diesel fuel and use that in their existing generators. He said the territory would benefit from the arrangement through the mine's impact on the economy.

"Knowing that they are the (only) game in town, in a sense, we need to ensure that we can supply them power, that they can extend their mine life so that GDP can continue to remain or grow instead of shrink," he said.

He said an additional review of the project would delay it, and potentially derail the project because some of the mines already have a limited lifespan.

Roland also said other route options aren't financially feasible because putting transmission lines under the lake would cost $50 million more, across the islands would cost $40 million more and going around the west part of the lake would cost $200 million more.

Mike Bradshaw, spokesman for NT Hydro, said alternate routes and a connection to the Snare Lake grid would actually increase the cost of power for regulated customers because the diamond mines wouldn't be fronting the cost, which would increase the project cost by $100 million.

He said if the transmission expansion tied into the regulated system, those costs would have to be recovered from regulated customers - residents and commercial customers. However, he said it was unlikely the public utilities board would approve an expense of that magnitude.

If the expansion goes ahead, it would add another power plant to the Twin Gorges site, which now produces 18 megawatts of electricity. The extra 56 megawatts would be sold to the diamond mines.