Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. In each hydro rate zone, which holds the highest rate for consumers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister Responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, there are of course various zones. I haven't looked into it lately, but I would speculate the Yellowknife area has the highest rates. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm sure the Minister will find these correct once he looks into it, and Fort Smith, his home town, is probably the lowest. Does the Minister know how the Northwest Territories Power Corporation allocates its overhead and admin cost to each rate zone?
It is a rather complex method by which costs are arrived at, but there's a revenue-to-cost coverage ratio, as is called RCC, and that is of course different in each zone and I do confirm that Fort Smith area does have the lowest rates. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we're currently subsidizing diesel communities in the thermal zones at the rate, the Yellowknife hydro rate, which as the Minister has confirmed is the highest rate. Why do we not use the lowest hydro rate, the Fort Smith rate, for these diesel subsidies, give a break to our smaller communities, and let them enjoy the benefits that the Minister enjoys back at home?
Mr. Speaker, the thermal zones, the smaller communities are already massively subsidized and we have found that that is the most appropriate way of dealing with the issue of supplying power to these small communities. If it was to be based on the Fort Smith rate, it would be even a larger subsidy required.
Mr. Speaker, certainly the cost of power is high and that's exactly what we're talking about, and earlier I was pleased to hear the Minister set a new direction for the board to address this issue. Why are there three hydro rates, Mr. Speaker, and why is Yellowknife being charged the most out of those three? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, at one point in the distant past, there was a very complex arrangement by which virtually every community had its own rate which led to great complexity and very, very lengthy hearings in front of the Public Utilities Board because each community had to go through the costs and so on. We thought that at the time, and I was on the board and so I had some input on this, that the fairest way was to move to the current rate that we now have. So there are different amounts paid by different communities. I would like, however, the Member opposite to recall that all taxpayers massively subsidized the Yellowknife area, the Snare in the two years that there was low water. I believe that was more than $40 million. So yes, we have helped the small communities, yes, Fort Smith does have the lowest rate, but Yellowknife has been considerably helped by subsidies also.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
