Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m just going to follow up to a Member’s statement I made earlier this week, and it’s in regard to the gas situation that’s happening in Inuvik. We’re looking at finding solutions and actually making things a little bit better for our businesses and our residents in Inuvik. Actually, my questions for today are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
I’d like to ask him, in regard to a statement that he had made March 13th of this year, in regard to the policy review considered in terms of replacing the net billing with the net metering program. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible if he can give us an update on where that policy review is, whether that’s in place now so that our businesses, our residents can start looking at these alternative energy sources that would cut down the cost of living in some of our higher communities.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That review is pretty well done. We’re migrating from net billing to net metering. That work is underway. We’re going through the process. We anticipate that by this fall we will be ready to move to go to the PUB and such. We, as well, have a briefing scheduled next week with committee to update them on the status of this particular initiative.
Glad to hear that the policy has been reviewed and looking at something in the fall. For businesses specifically that do create a lot of power and energy that will go back into the grid, would the Minister be able to give us an exact time and date so that these businesses can start looking at investing in some of these alternative energy sources that would lower their costs but also be able to get a return with the net metering? Would he be able to give us a specific date so that some of our businesses, our residents can start looking at investing in some of these alternative energy initiatives?
I’m sticking to a seasonal target at this point, but by fall, September, October, we expect to have all the necessary steps covered. We want to, of course, do our briefing with committee, get feedback from committee, and it’s going to apply to standby charges as well. I would point out that the net metering and the change is going to be focused on thermal communities and initially to look specifically at solar.
The Minister did touch on another question here that I was going to ask about the standby charges, and he did mention that they‘d be looking at possibly getting away with the standby charges, which is also great. Seeing as we’re at the beginning of summer here and we’re into 24-hour daylight here, and any businesses in the Northwest Territories that want to access this solar energy while we have a longer day period, seeing as we’re going to be passing this policy in the fall time, is there any chance that any businesses that might try to get an initiative now be able to recoup any types of savings come the fall, get that back over the summer months? Knowing what we know today, from this day forward if they get into the alternative energy sources, would they be able to recoup some of those costs back when the policy goes through?
I would suggest that if folks are interested, businesses are interested, that they look to the subsidies and grants that are available to start up and assist with alternative energy infrastructure; solar, biomass and that type of thing. Those have been increased; the amount of money has been raised; the ceilings have been raised so that the level of support, and I believe where it was $25,000 is up to $50,000. So if they’re just wanting to get started today and they want to think about it, then they’ve got to do their plan and they’ve got to buy the infrastructure and I think that would be the first port of call, and then as we get down the road with the regulatory changes, that will be the fall.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
The way it currently sits, there’s no incentive for these businesses or residents to really go into this with all the energy going back into the grid. I want to know with the subsidies, outside of the subsidies, would any of these businesses that are ready to go now, would they be able to get any kind of retroactive payback from knowing what we know now and when it comes through in the fall? Yes or no?
In this case I would suggest that virtue would have to be its own reward, the savings that they would have in their own businesses, and the answer would be no.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
