Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we learned that the Europeans are very progressive in the area of energy. They bundle heat and power and even broadband and combine them in their utilidor systems emanating from their heating and power plants. Municipal and regional governments provide this service and so does some private enterprise and, really, we’re overdue to recognize that our NWT Power Corporation, our arm’s-length fully owned corporation, needs to be thinking of things like this.
My question is, again, for Minister Roland. We’ll keep him busy today. Basically, will the NWT Power Corporation review include a review of their mandate so we can actually bring in some of these things that we’re learning and some of these things that have been frustrating us for a long time, such as the potential for the Power Corporation to play a role in implementing biomass? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for that question because that gives me the opportunity to say that the Power Corp is involved, to a large degree, on a number of fronts to try to bring best efficiencies forward from going from diesel to gas turbines, for example, in a number of areas. The biomass work and the work that the Members have done and will be coming back to that committee with their work and the report will help us as we move forward on some of our initiatives that Minister Miltenberger spoke of earlier.
As the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, I just recently had a discussion with the chair and the president of the Power Corp in this area and looking at how we would engage ourselves and become part of the renewed energy, in a sense, and focus to where we could go with these initiatives. I think there’s opportunity there that we definitely have to tap into and plug into. That is an area that we’re starting to have our discussions. As we formulate the response and the work that was done, going through that committee, to Minister Miltenberger and our Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee as well, we’ll be able to tap into there and figure out how we’ll be able to deliver on some of these alternatives that have been mentioned. Thank you.
I appreciate that response and I’ll assume that the answer was yes, the mandate of the review, or the review will include the mandate of the Power Corporation, unless the Minister corrects me.
Will the review of electricity rates also include biomass and -- it’s sort of associated with that -- is there any expertise being offered to the review panel or the expert panel in that area? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the alternative energy process we’ve engaged in is one through the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee and Members to look at these alternatives. In fact, we’ve done it so that it doesn’t affect the rates, at this time, of how we implement some of the new technologies into our systems. We have to engage with the Power Corp at that level to see how we would do a full implementation. Again, looking at not impacting the rates of individuals. So that work is to be done.
The review itself that’s happening, looking at the Power Corp, the internal process was one of how it operates in today’s environment. Changes we want to make from their point out, that’s going on, will result at looking at a couple of things: One, we’ve committed to the energy rates subsidy review that’s happening; secondly, the Power Corporation specific review; and, thirdly, the ATCO proposal. At those stages we will be looking at what comes out of there and we’ll decide as to just how much of a change we want to make going forward. So, yes, we can look at the mandate and the structure. Alternative energies, we have a process we believe in and we’re trying to figure out just how we’ll plug it in to our existing frameworks that we have in place on that and when required on the review panel itself. Specific to the Power Corp review, I’m going to be getting Members information on just who that team is and go forward on that basis.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, and thanks again for the response. The opportunities in biomass even affect the review of the ATCO proposal, and the Premier mentioned that proposal. Consideration of selling off our Power Corporation, of course, has been largely because of costs of electricity. We are pretty convinced that there are some opportunities for reducing those costs and at the same time, increasing or enhancing our local economies and, so, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yes, just for confirmation, will the Premier commit that even the review of the ATCO proposal, to the degree that it’s really trying to get at lower power costs, will also consider the biomass implications? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I’ve committed to you and just recently followed up, I believe a letter is going to committee on the latest update there looking at some of those functions and the future definitely would be part of the conversation and discussion we’ll have. I think, one, let’s be clear, as we talk about partnerships in the energy generation distribution in the North, that’s the process we’re being engaged in with that. We’ve got these other two big ones that we want to do first and the biomass piece, the alternative energies are even a part of those processes as we go forward and need to be as we look at what options are available to us when it comes to trying to stabilize and lower energy costs in the North and look forward to more of that discussion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
