Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated earlier, my question is going to be directed to the Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board.
Mr. Speaker, this government, every four years, goes through an application process of some 33 applications that have to be compiled and submitted to the PUB board for review. The PU review board is the one that establishes the rates that are going to be implemented in the communities. It’s not the Power Corp; it’s the PUB.
There was a decision made in the early ’90s to establish postage stamp rates, which means that every community has to apply individually in regard to what the rate is going to be. This government alone spends almost $3 million on these rate applications for 28 communities, not counting the Northland Utilities’ application.
I did move a motion in this House back in February directing the government to approach the Public Utilities Board and make amendments to the Public Utilities Act to allow the Legislative Assembly to consider looking at levelized rates. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s had an opportunity to meet with the PUB for them to bring forward legislation that will allow us to establish levelized rates.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The motion that was moved by the Member and was approved by the Legislative Assembly I think will assist us in our review. As I’ve written to the Member, we are undertaking a review. We will be asking the general public, the people who pay the bills, to give us their feedback and direction as to how we should deal with this issue.
The PUB takes direction from this Legislative Assembly. Through the legislation we direct how they should operate. Once this review is undertaken and we obtain the results and we reach agreement as to how we should regulate it, we will then give the necessary direction to the PUB.
Mr. Speaker, as stated by the Premier and now the Minister responsible for the PUB, has the government considered bringing forward legislation that will direct the PUB to take a look at levelized rates?
Mr. Speaker, we’re looking at a wide range of possibilities with regard to rates. We want to hear from the people out there, the electricity users, whether that is something that would be supported. A levelized rate would mean that everybody pays the same rates throughout the Northwest Territories, whether you use hydroelectricity or thermal electricity or diesel electricity. At the time the decision was made to go with the postage rates, it was felt that rates should be accumulated by individual communities. With our review we will go to the communities, and we will find out what the users want.
Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my statement, this government alone can save almost $12 million. Right now we pay a subsidy of over $9 million a year. It costs this government a little over $3 million to do these rate applications. There are savings that could be major by simply changing the direction the PUB has taken by establishing the 33 rate system, where basically 33 applications have to be reviewed every four years. Has the government looked at the cost savings in regard to making this decision, unilaterally knowing that there are cost savings to be had here? Has the Minister looked at the cost savings we can derive from changing the way we do this?
The Public Utilities Board prides itself on the amount of money it saves the average consumer by disallowing some of the costs put forward by the Power Corporation. One of the things we have to take into consideration is if we don’t have the Public Utilities Board reviewing the rate applications, who will review those rates? Who will ensure that the costs are appropriate?
Having said all that, we are undertaking a review. We are looking at how the Public Utilities Board operates, and we’re looking at whether there are other regulatory mechanisms that would be more cost effective and feasible.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, as we’ve heard time and time again, everywhere you go, everybody wants to deregulate and make things straightforward and simple. I think this government should also be amenable to that.
I would like to ask the Minister, knowing from his last comment about who’s going to do it…. I think maybe it’s time the Legislative Assembly established rates through legislation, that we establish exactly what the fee structure is going to be and do it through legislation and simply leave it to a board that will do it. I’d like to ask the Minister: have you considered the deregulation of this industry and making it simplified by simply legislating fees on the floor of this House?
As we said, we are undertaking a review where we’re going to leave no stone unturned. We’re looking at every option, including if the Legislative Assembly wants to take on the responsibility for setting the power rates. If that’s what we want to do, we will look at that option. Somehow I don’t think we want to do that, but we will undertake a review, and we will come forward with the results.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
