Louis Sebert

As the Energy Strategy is rolled out it's not going to be Yellowknife-centric; I do believe they are going out to regional centres. So we will be seeking input, and the other Minister involved also will be seeking input from the communities on just the issues that are raised by the Member opposite.

Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation always works with the communities. Specifically dealing with the issue of Colville Lake, which was a bit of a test case or an experimental case for the corporation, we can advise that the cost of the solar battery system there was $2.7 million. Now, we're hoping that the cost of these types of systems will decline, as seems to be often the case with technology and, at that point, we perhaps could look at other communities. So, yes, we are willing to look at other communities in the future. I can't specifically say we'd be looking at the community referred to...

Certainly as the Energy Strategy unfolds we are going to be looking at new technologies. We are, in the corporation, always interested in looking at newer technologies that are more energy efficient and so on, but for now this 20 per cent cap was imposed for reasons of efficiency and safety.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I can advise that there is in fact a 20 per cent cap. This was developed as part of the NWT's solar strategy and it was imposed for technical reasons to ensure the electricity remains reliable. More than 20 per cent solar makes the system unstable. Now, in Colville Lake it is about 20 per cent, but that was only after some very expensive batteries and sophisticated load control were installed at the power plant. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, the problem is that that this 20 per cent was not simply dreamed up. It was a figure above which the diesel system became erratic or undependable. Now, if we had a system that provided 100 per cent of the power needs and we no longer needed diesel that would be one thing, but it would seem to me that a system that went up to 40 per cent, say between solar and some other system, would exacerbate the problem with the diesel system.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. The Power Corporation is involved in the development of an energy plan which has been spoken of several times in this House, so we are committed in the Power Corporation to, as I say, look at new ways of providing power, keeping in mind our vision of supplying power to communities at the cheapest, affordable and safest rate. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the reason that the solar projects are capped at 20 per cent is that the diesel needs to run at the other 80 per cent. If they run more intermittently as I understand it, they become more unstable.

Mr. Speaker, as is well-known, the franchise in Hay River came to an end and the Town of Hay River, on its own, decided that it should seek bidders for the franchise. One of the bidders was of course the Power Corporation itself. I think there were actually two other bidders. The town accepted our bid, and our sole goal of this was to provide power at a lower rate to the citizens of Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I will promise to this House to talk about positive things.

Yes, certainly, Mr. Speaker, we are looking at these projects. All of these projects involve great complexity. It's not as though we've completed any of these mega projects. So I would expect as time goes on that we will have talks with Saskatchewan or perhaps other governments with a view to exporting power which is really the only way to reduce costs.