Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in our mandate, Commitment 1.4.6 says that this government will support net metering through clear policy direction to the Public Utilities Board to provide certainty to allow customers to recover their investments in renewable energy. This is a responsibility of the Premier, and I would like to ask the Premier today if he can advise if, in fact, clear policy direction has been provided to the Public Utilities Board and what the nature of this policy direction has been. Thank you.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will answer the first question. Yes, clear policy direction has been provided to the Public Utilities Board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the visitors in the gallery. We have with us Chief Ernest Betsina of Ndilo. Masi for joining us today. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you. It is always nice to work together with the Honourable Premier. I just want to lay out how confusing this picture is to Members on this side of the House. The Premier is responsible for this mandate commitment. The Minister of Health is responsible for the Public Utilities Board. The Minister of Justice is responsible for the Power Corporation. The Minister of Infrastructure is the chair of the Ministerial Energy and Climate Change Committee of Cabinet and is responsible for the government's 2030 Energy Strategy. Finally, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources is responsible for the Climate Change Strategic Framework. With all of these cooks in the kitchen, who is leading the overall coordination of energy policy-making for this government?
It is very clear to me. The Public Utilities Board is an independent regulator, but the Public Utilities Board funding is voted on by the Legislative Assembly, through the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs' main estimates. The commitment that the Member is referring to, Commitment 1.4.6 on net metering, falls to the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs.
With regards to who is leading the overall coordination of energy policy-making for the Government of the Northwest Territories, this is a corporate responsibility led by Cabinet with input from Regular Members, Aboriginal government communities, stakeholders, interest groups, and the general public.
The Premier has laid that out clear. I know for a fact that subsection 14 of the Public Utilities Act gives this government the authority to issue direction to the Public Utilities Board. It is not just a funding issue. There is direct policy that can be made, and I sit on the Standing Committee of Economic Development and Environment, and we do not know what is going into these policy decisions. In fact, the last one was dropped on us with little notice.
If policy direction and development is not being shared with Regular Members, and we have to deal with five separate Ministers on various aspects of energy in the Northwest Territories, how is the Premier planning to work with us effectively to guide the Energy Strategy and allow us to have full input to make sure this works for Northerners?
All Members of this House should have input into the development of public policy. We have procedures and process conventions to ensure that all policy direction issued to the PUB has been shared with committees and has been made public, as well as any future policy direction to the PUB, including the draft Energy Strategy.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to again remind the Premier that, over the life of this government in the last two years, any policy direction to the Public Utilities Board has been shared with standing committees after the fact. We have not been allowed to provide input into these policy decisions. Will the Premier commit to this side of the House today to ensure that the voices of the standing committees and the Regular Members are included before policy direction is given to the Public Utilities Board? Thank you.
Cabinet has directed the Public Utilities Board to consider the following principles when assessing net metering rates: costs should be transparent; costs should be borne by the customers; government customers should not be eligible for net metering; implementation criteria should provide certainty of benefits; and the capacity for individual systems taking part in net metering should be no greater than 15 kilowatts to ensure all residents and businesses should be ensured an opportunity to participate in the program. We will follow convention as per the protocol agreement to make sure that all Members are made aware. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
