Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as most people, Members, we end up with issues that are related to people's issues with the Power Corporation and that, or Housing Corporation and, you know, arrears and that. So my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Mr. Speaker, what policy or procedures does the corporation follow when they have overdue accounts? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Power Corporation follows its terms and conditions of service with disconnecting a customer account or installing a load-limiting device due to nonpayment. Those terms and conditions are approved by the Public Utilities Board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. Mr. Speaker, we have a number of individuals who live in public housing, and so they have to pay their bills accordingly and that. Can the Minister please advise, if a person lives in public housing, does the Power Corporation reach out to the local housing authority and advise them of the situation? In other words, if the power is going to be cut or restricted?
Yes, the local housing authorities are made aware of any collection efforts which affect their clients and their assets. This notification is provided prior to any notice being sent out to the clients.
I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess I'm going to have to, kind of, go with that question here: how do they communicate that with the local housing authority? Is it through email? Is it through telephone? How do they communicate that information?
I'm not absolutely certain the manner in which they do contact the local housing authority or organization. I would expect it would be by mail, but I will look into that further.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, and I thank the Minister for that, and I apologize. It just jumped into my head there, and I appreciate the direct response from the Minister and the commitment. I'm hoping they actually reach out by phone call instead of just by mail. So my last question to the Minister is: does the corporation have a policy that they follow to disconnect the power for good, and what is the threshold for this decisionmaking? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As mentioned earlier, the Power Corporation follows section 16.3 of their terms and conditions, and if I might just refer to that, that states:
"Where accounts are not paid by customer before the expiration of a notice given to the customer pursuant to this section, the corporation may forthwith disconnect the customer from service and may refuse to reconnect the customer for service until the accounts in arrears, a security deposit payable under section 5.7 and 5.8, and a reconnection fee as set out in schedule C are fully paid. As an alternative to disconnection during winter months, the corporation may, at its sole discretion, acting reasonably, install a device to limit the electricity available to the customer."
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
