Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation. About a year ago, I stood up in this House and asked the Minister about the five generators that we had contracted Virdi Power out of California to build and what the status of those were. We know what that is all about now, so there are no further questions along those lines. There was an interesting piece of information that was provided back then. The Minister indicated to us that we had incurred costs of about half a million dollars, $500,000, at that point in time, which was about a year ago by not having those generators in place at that time.
Seven months later in the fall I asked a similar question: how much money is owed? The money was still oddly $500,000. We still hadn't received the generators at that time. We have received three of those now. We've re-contracted the other two out. I'd like to ask the Minister: what is the final number that the Power Corporation has had to pay extra for by not receiving these generators on time? Can he please confirm if Virdi Power is in fact going to be responsible for covering those costs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, in January, the corporation made the determination that they had to terminate the contract because of the non-delivery of the two generators. There was a set-off for some of the costs. I would expect that overall, however, our costs will be more than anticipated because of the necessity of re-contracting for the final two generators. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I didn't really get any clarification. A year ago, the number was $500,000. Can the Minister clarify what that number is today, that has cost the Power Corporation, ratepayers, quite frankly, what it has cost them extra to date by not receiving those generators, and are we collecting it from Virdi Power? How are we collecting it from Virdi Power?
Yes, there is set-off for some of the costs that we have incurred as a result of the late delivery, in fact, non-delivery of the last two generators. It is expected that overall, however, that the $8 million budget that was anticipated for this will be exceeded by about $500,000. I think the only way of collecting the extra money would be to commence litigation against Virdi. There was a set-off on some of the payments to Virdi, but I don't know whether it will be worthwhile to litigate this in California.
Well, it seems to me that this is probably going to be a line of questioning for another day, but I want to jump ahead because this is part of the problem. There is always this degree of openness and transparency that we don't seem to receive as it relates to the Power Corporation. I am wondering can the Minister, and I have asked him this before, commit the Power Corporation to providing its annual operating and maintenance budgets and its capital budget through similar processes that we already use for the Housing Corporation? It's a Crown corporation. It partakes in the annual business plans, and it presents its budgets to the Committee of the Whole. Can the Minister commit the Power Corporation to undertaking the same processes so that we can have a public, open, transparent conversation about the Power Corporation?
The Power Corporation, of course, is a publicly regulated utility, so there is the necessity of filing each year or each time there is an increase in front of the PUB, so the process is quite open and transparent. In addition to that, we file annual budgets, capital and operating annual financial performance, and a corporate plan, which will now include a 20-year strategic plan, so the corporation is quite open. We did appear in front of committee and would be prepared to do so again if required or if asked.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I appreciate that they have come and presented to committee. It was a PowerPoint presentation. I also appreciate that the some of the documentation the Minister spoke about is provided publicly. However, it's not put to public scrutiny through the similar processes that we already use to put the rest of the government's entire budget through scrutiny. That said, I would like to ask the Minister: we heard earlier the Minister of Infrastructure talk about federal infrastructure funding coming our way; can the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation indicate if there are any dollars from those funds coming to the Power Corporation to help it reduce its infrastructure gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Power Corporation participated actively in the drafting of the energy strategy, so I expect that our corporation, the Power Corporation, will be developing alternative renewable energy solutions for the communities of the Northwest Territories. If I could just outline some of the things that we are hoping to do, one of the things that clearly is a priority or a concern of the corporation and all of the communities is to reduce costs, so we are looking at LNG in Fort Simpson and Tuktoyaktuk; reducing emissions; wind, we are looking at possible wind projects in Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Sachs Harbour; possible transmission lines to Fort Providence and Whati; and hydro, small hydro projects in Lutselk'e and Gameti. We also are hoping to improve reliability, the Bluefish hydro redevelopment, hydro overhauls, and micro-solar. In addition to those things, we are attempting to increase our number of clients by growing the rate base, and that is why we are working with other departments, to look at possible Taltson expansion. So those are the things that we are doing. Clearly, we will need federal involvement and funds to advance those projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
