Shauna Morgan

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay, my first question: The item called Northwest Territories energy efficiency projects, it looks in the description that this only funds the Northwest Territories Power Corporation to do, like, internal projects related to its power plants. I also note that there used to be a funding program that was delivered, I believe by Arctic Energy Alliance, offering community governments money to do retrofits and often increase energy efficiency in their buildings. Has the government considered expanding its funding for energy efficiency projects beyond power corporation assets...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do understand that the business plan speaks to the energy strategy, and there are things contained within the energy strategy. One of those is a goal, at least in the previous iteration of the 2030 Energy Strategy, a goal to increase commercial, residential, and institutional building energy efficiency by 15 percent. But can the Minister explain what practical steps the government is taking to actually achieve that goal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I mean, one area that the GNWT did manage to find funds in the last year was for Arctic Energy Alliance to work with homeowners in Norman Wells to look for energy efficiency opportunities. So I wonder if the Minister could explain what successes or lessons learned have come from that initiative which we were able to find funding for this past year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Infrastructure. So the Arctic Energy Alliance has experienced major funding reductions in recent years and struggle to meet the huge demand from NWT residents, businesses, and community governments for its programs and services. And as of October of 2024, they had actually run out of money for their energy rebate programs and were no longer accepting applications. So given the reductions in federal money for energy efficiency rebate programs, has the GNWT considered stepping in with territorial money to support those programs...

Mr. Speaker, we've talked a little about energy initiatives in this House, renewable energy projects, opportunities for local gas development, but we hardly ever talk about energy efficiency; how we can help community members and local businesses avoid using so much energy in the first place. Too often, when we're tightening our belts, we consider energy initiatives as a luxury we can't afford.

Mr. Speaker, wasting energy is a luxury we can't afford. In each year's budget, we devote more and more millions to energy subsidies, electricity rate subsidies, seniors' home heating subsidies, fuel...

Okay, no, thanks for that update. That's great to know what some of the barriers are but also what work is being done to move through it as I think we can all agree that getting more people into the workforce is one of our highest priorities in this Assembly, and apprenticeships and things like the SNAP program can be great ways to do that. I'll leave it there for now.

I have a question about a few of the information items, but I'm hoping we'll have a chance to ask a few questions about that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a few questions about the business plans, and I feel like this is as good an item as many to address them in. They probably touch on several.

But one of the goals in the business plan is to undertake regular evaluation of programs and services to ensure cost efficiency and to have a mechanism for regularly reviewing and updating infrastructure fees and roles, and it looks like the goal is to review two programs each year. Can the Minister explain what are the two programs that have been chosen for review this year and why those were determined to be the highest...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Now, I know that owners of electric vehicles tend to be, you know, wealthier members of our communities, but I wanted to also highlight, so the program for the low-income program to address energy poverty, it's only $200,000. First, I wanted to ask is this based on applications that, like, individual people have to apply to get something under this program, or is it based on a certain project or a certain community that the government decides, okay, we're going to allocate this money this year to, you know, one project and one community. Can the Minister just clarify how...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And so currently, if there are community governments that want to maintain and upgrade their own buildings and assets, make them more energy efficient, is there somewhere that they can go for help finding money for retrofits? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister point to evidence that the work underway will actually lead us to achieve the goal of 15 percent energy efficiency reductions? Is that a path that is laid out and quantified, or we're just hoping that the investment will get us to the 15 percent goal? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.