Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about NTPC in my Member’s statement. I’d like to direct my questions today to the Minister Responsible for NTPC, Mr. Yakeleya. I’d like to ask the Minister, first of all, if he has any indication of when the next general rate application is coming forward from NTPC.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister Responsible for NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are in phase 2 of the general rate application presently, and we’re just waiting to conclude that. We have our general rate applications every three years.
I’d like to ask the Minister if NTPC has to bring forward their request for a general rate application to the Minister’s office to justify it, and does he approve that?
Mr. Speaker, the question raised by the Member is very good. I'm being notified by the Crown corporation board of directors through the chairperson. The Crown has its own strict guidelines and legislation. When they go before the Public Utilities Board, they file the GRA. However, the Minister is aware and is in contact continuously with the chairperson of NTPC.
I’ll thank the Minister for that. I’d like to ask the Minister: because NTPC is a Crown corporation owned by the people of the Northwest Territories, would it not be possible for any applications for a general rate increase to be approved by the Legislative Assembly?
Mr. Speaker, the Member is certainly correct on that: the Crown corporation is owned by…. We are the shareholders. My one responsibility in the Cabinet is to work on behalf of the shareholders in trust in terms of the corporation. If the legislation was to change and how we do business within our Crown corporation changed, we certainly should be having the discussion with the House Members from this side and from the other side in terms of talking about how to restructure our corporation. Certainly, Mr. McLeod, under the Minister coordinating the Energy Committee, we are looking at all options of how we operate Crown corporations such as NTPC.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, on this side of the House, have heard from the shareholders of this Crown corporation, which is why we continue to raise the issue of the high cost of utilities. They would like the Legislative Assembly to play a major role in approving general rate applications that NTPC wants to bring forward.
I’d like to ask the Minister my final question. There’s obviously a cost to delivering power. I would just like to know from the Minister if that’s the same cost that people pay? If it costs a dollar to deliver the power, are we paying exactly a dollar, are we paying $1.20, or are we paying less? The NTPC has a surplus, and my understanding is that half of that goes back into the power subsidy, which is a good thing. But I would propose putting all that money back into the power subsidy and just having whatever it costs to generate power — charge that to the people of the Northwest Territories. Is that possible?
For me, certainly along with the Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee, Members have a role. I look forward to some good discussions with Members of the House in terms of our rate structure, our power and the high costs of our communities. My understanding is that we request the dividends from our Crown corporation, and from there we top up the dividend in terms of the surplus. We requested that from NTPC.
We certainly look forward to having some further discussions in terms of the operations of NTPC and remind the people of the North that the Public Utilities Board scrutinizes every step we have in our operations, and every cent is accounted for in terms of us doing operations and having reliable service in the Northwest Territories for our communities. We look forward to having discussions about the operations of our Crown corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
