Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Monday there is going to be a referendum in Yellowknife on the Con Mine community energy system. I’ve talked with City officials to get a firm understanding of the project proposal and I want to share that information to help voters make a wise decision.
It’s important to be clear what the vote is or isn’t and what citizens are being asked to approve. This vote is not a final investment decision or a vote to go ahead with the project. Referendum approval would allow the City to talk to partners in a meaningful way. It would give the signal of serious intention private firms need before undertaking the expense of a detailed business plan assembly.
With the consent of the referendum, the City can proceed to finding a partner who will provide capital costs confirmation. With firm capital costs, customer rates can be confirmed, and given confirmation that the project is viable, work can proceed on signing up customers. City officials tell me that then and only then would the City use the consent given under the referendum and assemble the funds needed to establish a new arm’s-length utility.
This is a cautious strategy and very risk adverse. It provides a number of off-ramps to back away before any capital construction decision is made based upon the hard numbers of the business case. After the system is constructed, building owners will hold the risk of fuel price fluctuation.
So why is the City making this project its business? Because the City wants Yellowknife’s future to be based on environmentally responsible energy price stability, with a secure future for stable, low-energy costs. City growth can be planned around a built-in economic advantage based on low carbon emissions. City planners are acting to reap the windfall of federal funds available now. And for taxpayers, energy sales could actually result in decrease of tax assessments thanks to the new revenue source. The City is offering voters a cautious next step towards a more secure, greener future. There will be lots more public scrutiny and lots of opportunity for hard questions.
I’m urging Yellowknifers to get out and vote on Monday, March 14th, and let’s keep our options open, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Enormous environmental benefits could accrue if the Con Mine community energy system goes ahead. On carbon emissions reductions alone the project is a huge winner. The project will displace Yellowknife’s fuel oil consumption by seven million litres a year, providing a 17,000 tonne reduction in greenhouse gases. That’s the equivalent of taking half the vehicles in Yellowknife off the road. It also cancels the emissions from thousands of fuel haul trucks.
Emissions from buildings connected to the system, the largest buildings in the city, will drop by 95 percent. Geothermal energy can heat this city for as long as there is a Yellowknife. Cheap distributed heat is an economic incentive to build a compact community with energy-efficient densities for walking, commuters, a green community for people.
One recent letter in support of this project asked us to imagine a Yellowknife family in 2015 buying a townhouse, working downtown, sending their kids to nearby schools. Those kids could grow up 100 percent carbon neutral, their power from Snare Hydro and their heat from the Con Mine community energy system. Even their tap water would be preheated using mine energy.
While Con gold mine is closed, we are still sitting on a gold mine. Emission-free energy savings from continually renewing energy offers strong competitive advantage to Yellowknife which will pay dividends for the foreseeable future. We have a limited time offer of $14 million federal to help us seize this opportunity. The green category of the project gives us access to federal funds other cities can only envy.
People are frequently discouraged in confronting the immense challenge of turning back climate change. It is natural to say I am just one person, the task is so huge, what can I do? Mr. Speaker, they can vote in favour of the Con Mine community energy system. People are being given the chance to vote in favour of a green future. I am marking my calendar to vote yes on March 14th and I am hoping Yellowknifers will too. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to say yes I “con,” I “con” support the City of Yellowknife district energy system.
---Laughter
I “con” vote yes on referendum day, next Monday, and I will vote yes. I support the City’s Geothermal District Energy System Project and I’m excited by the concept of a district energy system, and I’m excited by the long-term benefits that will accrue to both the city and its residents.
Like many city homeowners, when I first heard the details of the project, I heard that it would supply heat to 39 downtown buildings. I wondered what was in it for me. Would there be a benefit to me as a single-family homeowner? Would my taxes go up because of the $49 million loan? Could I expect the price of oil to go up in the future because of this project? The answers are yes, I will benefit; no, my taxes won’t go up; and no, the price of oil won’t increase.
In the short term, homeowners will benefit through revenues from heat energy sales, which will go to the City because it will be a major shareholder in the district energy company. In the long term, the company will expand to possibly provide heat to all residents of Yellowknife. It might take 30 or 50 years, but eventually we can be off all the oil as a heat energy source.
Any loan taken out by the City for this project will be an expense of the energy company, separate from City expenses and will be paid off through the energy company, not through our taxes. In fact, we may even see a reduction in our taxes because of this new revenue source for the City.
You’ve heard about other aspects of this project from other Members. I’ve focused on the impact that it will have on individual city residents. For me the benefits far outweigh the negatives. I know more work is needed before this project can go ahead. A yes vote on Monday will allow for that work, the necessary research and study, which will determine if the project should proceed. A no vote stops everything right now, before the study and the evaluation of the viability of the project has been completed and it wastes the man hours and the money spent to date.
I will be voting yes on Monday for two reasons: because it addresses the long-term sustainability of my home community and because I “con.” I urge all Yellowknifers to get out to the polls on Monday and do the same.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
