Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 16, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 16, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 16, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, November 5, 2012, I will move that Bill 17, Supplementary Appropriation (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2012-2013, be read for the first time. Thank you.

There are a couple of issues here. The issue of net billing is coming up for review. The Solar Strategy opens the door for that type of discussion. In the past it was just a single initiative, trying to put some mechanism in place, be it solar, wind, whatever people would be generating energy with that would be going back into the grid, and how would we be seen to allow that integration to occur. In other areas, for example, as we look at geothermal and the possibility of NTPC involvement, what we’re looking at is the price of displaced diesel. That takes you into the range, depending where...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is in place in the Northwest Territories, we initially looked at net metering and we are going to review this. We ended up with what’s called net billing. The basic intent of both those initiatives is to recognize that as people put in their own sources of power supply, the ability to put power back into the grid and get some compensation for creating that extra energy and flowing it back into the grid. Thank you.

In some cases virtue can be its own reward. If you put in biomass and you put in wind or solar and you’re getting free energy, then that’s the benefit to you. If you can, in fact, not only get free energy for your own needs and you create a surplus, then that will help cover your other costs and then you start generating a profit.

There is opportunity here. There is an energy plan coming out. There’s a Solar Strategy coming out and an energy charrette that’s going to be held here in a few weeks. We want to engage in that kind of discussion. The Solar Strategy opens the door for that type of...

It would be in the range, probably slightly more than what we would wholesale the price of power. For example, NTPC wholesales power to Northlands for about eight cents a kilowatt. It would be slightly more than that.

Mr. Speaker, over the last few sessions I have been reporting on work the Northwest Territories Power Corporation has been doing to ensure that its structure and operations are aligned with government’s goal to keep electricity costs as low as possible. As owners of NTPC, Northerners have a vested interest in making sure the corporation achieves this objective. I believe NTPC is up to the job.

The corporation has been called upon to play a large role in supporting this government’s goal of reducing dependence on high-priced, environmentally harmful fossil fuels. NTPC has led many initiatives to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The year-end accounting will capture all the money across government that has lapsed. One of the specific ways, if there is direction of committee, we could look at a negative supp that would specifically target any funds should they be lapsed on this project. Thank you.