Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Public Works and Services. Last week I had questions in the House about the Net Metering Program and some questions around energy. I know this department has taken over the responsibility for energy. I’d like to ask the Minister, in regards to supporting small businesses, I understand there’s a business support program within his department and I want to ask the Minister, when was that program last reviewed in terms of supporting businesses in the Northwest Territories?
Under this program, this program is designed to help businesses in the NWT implement renewable energy and energy-efficient projects. As we know, the cost of doing business in the North is fairly high.
I’d like to ask the Minister, first of all, when was that program last reviewed, and is there an increase in dollars projected for the future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Public Works, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Business Incentive Program is an ongoing program that is administered by the Arctic Energy Alliance. Last year we had $200,000. It was not fully subscribed at that point; however, we’re going to continue with that funding, and if there’s more uptake we would consider looking around for additional funds to fund that program. It is considered to be very important. Thank you.
It’s a shame to hear that the program wasn’t fully utilized in previous years, and I do understand that the department does have a partnership with the Arctic Energy Alliance.
I was wondering when was the last time the Minister met with the Arctic Energy Alliance and looked at this policy to see what barriers and challenges are preventing our businesses from actually participating in this program that can potentially help businesses succeed, get a higher revenue but also cut down on our carbon emissions.
I’d like to ask him, when was the last time that his department and staff met with Arctic Energy Alliance to review this policy and address any barriers that might prevent businesses from accessing this funding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The department is in regular contact with the Arctic Energy Alliance, as they deliver quite a few programs for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Specifically when this particular program was last reviewed, I don’t have that date. It seems to be a program that is working well. It is almost fully subscribed, so we expect that when we start our energy division and we start to have more communications with Arctic Energy Alliance and its clientele, we expect that all of the money that we give to Arctic Energy Alliance will be fully subscribed. Thank you.
It’s possible that there might be limits on the amount of dollars that a small business can access. We all know that when you’re putting in infrastructure such as solar energy, that high cost of shipping materials up to, let’s say, the Beaufort-Delta region and then installing them, it does come at a very high cost, and with the amount of sunlight we get during the summer there’s a short window to get any kind of profit on that.
Would the Minister also look at a solar energy program, a program that promotes the use of solar energy technologies in the NWT and work with Arctic Energy Alliance to address those challenges and how we can make it better for the small businesses to actually invest in this type of project? Thank you.
The Alternative Energy Program, which looks at all of the alternatives to energy, is a program that is currently being delivered by Arctic Energy Alliance, and that program has $800,000 to look at a lot of various programs. An example is there is a more energy-efficient hot water replacement program so that it cuts down on energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and so on. In that program alone the Arctic Energy Alliance expended $300,000 last year. There are other programs that are available under that program and also looking at the various technologies under alternative energy, also programs that Arctic Energy Alliance delivers for the GNWT.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Under the energy department there is an area under solar energy, and for the last couple of years it has received funding in the area of maybe about $625,000.
Can I ask the Minister if that funding has been fully utilized throughout the Northwest Territories as well?
I don’t have that information here with me. I can have that information specific to the utilization of the solar energy budget given to me and I can provide that to the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
