Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my statement and questions to the Premier through you yesterday on the Taltson Hydro routing and east side versus west side. Yesterday the Premier noted that we needed a client to sell power to and that’s why we went the east side. This sounds odd to me, because does the Premier not think that Avalon secondary processing at Avalon Mine, Tyhee Mine, Nico Mine, Yellowknife, Behchoko and expanded growth from a connected Taltson and Snare Hydro grids are not much better long-term and permanent clients for that power? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process that the Taltson expansion has been built on is built on a customer that has approvals, that is on the ground, that is benefiting the North through GDP development as we speak. The other projects that are there, yes, have promise for the future and we’ll need to try to incorporate that as we look forward, but they’re still years away from actually establishing if there’s a secondary industry, which, as we talked with Minister McLeod and questions were answered in this House, that that is one of the avenues we will have to engage in.
Right now the existing plan has been to deliver power to an existing client base. If that doesn’t go through, we’re going to have to look for a new client base and the expanse it would have to grow if we were to increase potential new projects that could come on-line. Right now the way the process is, it’s expanding the grid up into the North Slave Geological Province. Thank you.
Thank you. Last week we read that the Power Corporation chair dismissed this government’s aspirations to attract Avalon Minerals secondary processing with a competitive NWT electricity source, such as the Taltson. The Premier promised that the corporation would eat those words, but it’s clear to see this corporation thinks it’s a law unto itself. Will this Minister direct that the Energy Corporation’s chair appear before standing committee to report on his strategic plan? Thank you.
Thank you. It’s an interesting and timely question as we discuss the Power Corporation and this process going forward. In fact, at one time in the history of the Legislative Assembly the Power Corp, I’m not sure if it was just the chair or the board chair and representatives of the board and potentially a senior manager or so would appear before the Assembly or through a standing committee. I will look, in fact, at initiating that process be re-engaged as we go forward. Thank you.
Thank you. Another bit of misconfusion or misinformation that the Premier said yesterday I’d like to get cleared up, and according to unedited Hansard he said the thinking on this is “the thinking about building capacity with our aboriginal partners across the Northwest Territories. Unfortunately, the Member doesn’t put more weight and bearing on that piece of it.” I want to assure the Premier that’s not the case. In fact, Deze Energy could just as easily partner in a west-side grid project. The fact is that Deze Energy and this government will develop nothing if this project degenerates in another Deh Cho Bridge calamity. So how does this Premier propose to ensure that this is the best project for Deze’s dollars and the public interests through strategic development of a project set up to actually succeed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It’s exactly the business case we’re working on, is to be able to sell the power to companies in the Northwest Territories that can’t do it for more, or can do it for less, to put it that way. Running the line, other than the scenario that’s been proposed, adds substantial dollars to the project, which would have to go towards the cost of a kilowatt hour, which would make it unaffordable, which means that we don’t have a customer base and that’s what’s driven this at this point. We would have to, as a government, decide if we wanted to do that and look at a different alternative routing that we would have to look at establishing that grid on our own, separate from the actual sale of power and we’d have to discuss if we were prepared to do that as a Government of the Northwest Territories. Right now, as I stated earlier, the business case is what’s driving this to the route and the client base that’s existing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the comments of the Premier. Premier, and I crystallize what I hope I made clear yesterday, it’s the frontend thinking that hasn’t been done. We’ve jumped right into this project instead of thinking about what we really need to do in the long term. The GNWT is a majority shareholder of the NWT hydro and Energy corporations and yet based on the response to earlier questions from last fall, the GNWT has never issued specific direction to guide NWT hydro corporation operations and hasn’t given specific direction to the NTPC since 2002. Can the Premier explain how it has directed the hydro corporation and the Energy Corporation to carry out the Taltson project and provide copies of any written detailed direction provided to the corporation boards? Mahsi.
First and foremost the relationship is through the responsible Minister; in this case at this point in time, myself to the chair of the board, meeting with the board to go over the plan that the board has put in place. Other factors that direct the board and its operation are through the legislation that exists and that is the NTPC Act itself, our Hydro Corporation Act, as well as the PUB and its decisions that have been made over the years that dictates the structure of how it would deal with the customer base. Outside of that, we set the direction in the Assembly. In fact, this government has set the direction when it comes to alternative energies, the $60 million that’s been committed through the Government of the Northwest Territories to look at alternative forms of energy versus the Power Corporation itself doing it. In fact, the report that we tabled in this Assembly highlights some of those areas of what should the focus be of the Power Corporation.
As for direction, it is Cabinet; the Minister, on Cabinet direction, can issue direction to the board in how it does its business. I would have to review what is able to be released in that sense, but the other areas, for example, on the Taltson have been many briefings on the Taltson process through the Energy Coordinating Committee and through standing committees on that side of it.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
