Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement earlier. My questions are for the lead Minister for energy or any other appropriate Minister. We all await the formal release of the internal NTPC review and we’ve seen the reports on the rate review. We’re interested in what the contribution is to providing to our energy future. Can the Minister confirm that a major intent of these reviews is to improve the affordability of power for all users through reduced costs?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for energy initiatives, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we started this process where we undertook the electricity review, it was understood that initially it was a three-part process. The first part was the electricity review, an NTPC review, and an ATCO proposal. We are working very closely with all Members of this Legislative Assembly and certainly our basic tenant is affordability.
I think we’ll all be keenly watching for improved affordability there. Obviously we can’t afford to endlessly review our energy providers. We’ve had other energy reviews of NTPC in the past and so on, and how we supply power. The public clearly wants action on this. The rates are going through the roof. Cheaper power, improved local opportunities and environmental sustainability must be key pillars in the results of these reviews. How is the Minister intending to ensure that these three needs will be advanced through the final decisions that result from the reviews?
I guess, first and foremost, I’ll be working very closely with my Legislative Assembly colleagues. We have also received input from almost all the sectors or interveners who have intervened in the process and also we’ve heard from a number of different associations and a number of municipalities that have given us their views on the direction we should go with the electricity rate review. What we are proposing to do is to put in front of the Members a number of different costs of modelling and to see the direction we’re heading in, to see if everybody is supportive. Hopefully when we do that it will cover the three basic principles that you outlined.
I think the last comment the Minister provided, I appreciate that information. The last comment is the source of my concern; that we’re waiting to see if these things are covered. I’m very concerned that those three pillars have not been sufficiently provided in the guidance to the reviews. Can the Minister assure us that they indeed were and we’re just not waiting to see if they happen to be covered in the results?
The terms of reference have been out there since last year sometime. Certainly our expectation is we will come up with rates that would cover all those pillars.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that response. On the question of energy efficiency, which I again raised in my statement, the government has been providing rebates, which do help some of our public but certainly not those, and there are many, who cannot afford the other 80 to 90 percent of the cost of energy-efficient appliances and so on. We know that there are big expenditures within government, but I’m concerned that we’re not doing nearly enough in the outreach. I don’t really see in the review information I’ve seen so far that it’s addressed there. I’m wondering where the focus is on helping our citizens directly through energy efficiency and the huge gains we know are out there so that their cost of living can be reduced. Is there an opportunity for the Minister to make sure that gets addressed in there?
With regard to energy efficiency, I think the largest part of areas where you can make efficiencies would be the benefit from conservation. I think if we change the way costs are allocated with regard to the generation of electricity, I think that there is an avenue there. Certainly with the $60 million Alternative Energy Initiative that this government has instituted to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, I think we would benefit significantly from that. As well, through our Green Government Initiative I think there are certainly opportunities for government to reduce their consumption of energy. I think the biggest area in the scenario, where I’d be looking to my colleagues for some feedback and direction, I think is to change the way costs are allocated so that when you do practise conservation and become more energy efficient, then you benefit from those practices.
