Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for Minister Miltenberger. Can the Minister describe to me what the GNWT rate equalization program is?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That fund is a Government of the Northwest Territories fund that is set up to subsidize the power rates in the NUL thermal communities, of which there are four, to subsidize those rates down to the NTPC thermal community rate and that subsidization is about half a million dollars a year of government money into the NUL subsidy of their rates. Thank you.
Can the Minister clarify which groups and which corporations are paid this subsidy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There are four thermal communities where the distributor of power is Northland Utilities, ATCO, and in those four communities there’s a subsidy program that is funded by the Government of the Northwest Territories to make sure that the NUL rate that the customers pay is the same as the NTPC thermal rate. So, you have the two distributors and the government subsidizes to make sure that people across the Northwest Territories are treated equally when it comes to buying power in their communities, and that requires a subsidy, in this case, of half a million dollars a year.
I’ll ask the Minister how he could describe this. Why do we do it this way as opposed to just letting the rate be in those areas and we just pay through the Territorial Power Subsidy Program?
The Territorial Power Support Program is geared more for residential tenants. This is a special arrangement between the two distributors and, in fact, in Hay River it is in addition to this subsidy program through the thermal communities, Hay River as well, because their rates are 30 percent higher than their neighbours. They get about $360,000 a year subsidy, as well, to be paid by the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am just wondering if I can get clarification. So, the GNWT provides half a million dollars to NUL to operate in the communities, not in Hay River or Yellowknife, in the other communities where it’s too costly to operate right now.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Where the distributor is ATCO, and that’s four communities. Thank you.
