Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last February/March sitting I raised some questions in the House to the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation with regard to three generators that were being built by Virdi Power out of California that we had put a million dollar deposit on and they were at that time about two, two and a half years behind schedule. I would like to ask the Minister if he has an update for this House. Are these generators in place and doing the job that they're supposed to do or are we still waiting for these generators? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, the generators are not in place. As I understand it they are still in California. We are hoping that at least three of the five generators will be delivered in the near future. I will certainly keep this House advised as to progress in this matter. I believe we have retained or spoken to legal counsel in the State of California to determine our rights with respect to this matter, but we are hoping to get delivery, as I say, of three of the five generators. Thank you.
Here we go; we're still flying on a wing and a prayer and using the word "hope" quite often when it comes to questioning around these five particular pieces of equipment.
Mr. Speaker, at one point in time it was indicated to us that Virdi Power was going to be responsible for any costs that the Power Corporation had to undertake or incur while we were missing these generators beyond their due date. At the last sitting when I asked about this in February/March, that number was around $500,000. I don't care to know what that number is to date because it's probably exorbitant, but the question needs to be asked. At some point, Virdi Power is going to recognize that they're not making profit anymore and they might pull the string on this.
I mean, to the point that the Minister just raised, are we evaluating when is the right time to maybe cut our losses and look at maybe the other proponents that had bid on these generators? I'm sure that we would have almost had those in place by now. When are we going to stop fooling around waiting for generators that we're never going to receive and cut our losses and take legal action if we have to?
As I mentioned, we are hoping still to get delivery of the three of five generators. With respect to legal action, we understand from our counsel in California that that would be exceedingly complex if we had to take that route; there may be other parties that could have priority. We are still hoping to get delivery of these generators. As I say, we are hoping to get at least three of the five in the near future. If we don't get those and we cannot pursue legal action in the State of California, which as I say may be very, very difficult, we will have to re-tender.
I would have thought that this would have been some homework that we would have undertaken in advance of knowing who we were doing business with, but sadly we're learning the hard way. What reasoning is Virdi Power giving for not being able to provide these generators on the due date? I mean, we're pushing three years now; they have to be providing some legitimate reasoning as to why they're late. What is the reasoning that they're providing the Power Corporation?
Why?
I'm not sure of the financial situation or otherwise of Virdi Power. Clearly, we have made apparent to them our grave concerns about this matter and we also retained, apart from legal counsel which I mentioned earlier, an independent quality control inspector to provide progress reports. Progress is slow and, frankly, Virdi Power is way behind in delivery.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In there was no answer really as to why. They haven't provided us an answer as to why they're three years late, but this supports the reason as to why I continue to ask for the Power Corporation to come to MLAs during the annual business planning process to give its capital plan and its annual O and M operating plan.
I ask the Minister: will the Minister get the Power Corporation to come and provide annual operating and maintenance plans through the regular budget planning process to this government, to these MLAs, to representatives of the public? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We're always pleased to appear in front of committee. Of course, Members will know that the Power Corporation doesn't fall under normal business plans as it's overseen by the Public Utilities Board, so that's where they appear in front of, but to provide more information with respect to these or other matters, I'd always be very happy to appear in front of committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
