Mr. Speaker, the subsidy’s consumption level of 700 kilowatts hasn’t been changed since 1988. For the number of users that rely on this subsidy, more important are the months of November, December, January and February.
I’d ask the Minister of NTPC in terms of these subsidy rates…. Since it will be a while until we’re going to have some discussions on changing it, in the interim could the Minister tell me that the Power Corporation is looking at some initiatives and incentives for people in our communities down in the Mackenzie Valley in terms of putting in some meter-reading smart devices that will show people that they are coming close to the subsidy level and that it’s time to unplug some of their appliances so they can save some money? Right now there aren’t any. Can the Minister tell me these meters could be something they could look at in the interim?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Roland.
I believe the term, and the Member may have said it, is smart metering. That’s available and has been used in southern Canada. That’s something that can be taken into consideration as we progress forward. I know over the last number of years the Power Corporation itself has upgraded many of the metering systems in our communities that help reduce this operating cost. This is another area that can be looked at and something that will be taken into consideration.
I was going to mention that it’s something we could do a little with the Arctic Energy Alliance: sharing responsibility with the community and our own Power Corporation. There’s going to be lots of discussion.
Again, I appreciate the Minister’s response in terms of something we could look at. Would it be something they would consider down in the Mackenzie Valley within the next couple of months? These meters are out. They’ve been used in B.C. Can we start in some of the smaller communities up North to show that we are working with them, so people in the small communities can say, yes, we are doing something for them? They would take on some of the ownership of the energy they’re using in their communities. Can the Minister advise the House if that’s something that’s possible within the short period of time before Christmas?
The changing of meters isn’t as straightforward a process as just making a decision to do that. In fact, I would say that we would need to have a serious look at this. The Power Corporation does a business plan themselves and puts it together, so I’d be prepared to get a briefing note ready and provide that for the Members.
Can the Minister advise people that with these smart meter readers there will be initiatives looked at in one of the regions in terms of implementing this project? I think that’s really something the people would appreciate in our communities in terms of being responsible and taking ownership of their use of power. I think that’s something we look forward to. Again, I would ask the Minister: can he do that as quickly as possible and within the time frame of the next couple months?
I will request from the Power Corporation that we pull this information together and provide it to Members for their review.
Thank you, Minister Roland. Final short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to this information getting pulled together by the NTPC to look at the community.
I would ask the Minister again: in terms of some solid commitment to the people in the region can these meters even be looked at by the Housing Corporation to see what they can do to implement this in public housing? Give us something to take back home. Give us something that even the private homeowners can have to be responsible for in terms of the power. That’s what I’m looking for.
The metering situation that’s out there is done by the Power Corporation solely. The Housing Corporation doesn’t have that. If there’s any changing of meters, it would be through the Power Corporation itself. As I’ve stated, we will prepare information and bring it to Members for further discussion.
Thank you, Minister Roland. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
