Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a follow-up to my statement, I have some questions for the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation. Obviously, he has indicated the Power Corporation will be bidding on the Hay River franchise.
Can I get an evaluation of what the Power Corporation did in order to decide that they were going to bid? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A review was done of costs in Hay River, all the publicly available information that was there in regards to the services provided. Then they also did their own estimates of the cost of potentially running those systems of the Hay River franchise, as well, and put forward those numbers, and they were then brought forward and assessed by a Cabinet committee.
I’m just wondering if the Minister can indicate to me – obviously they have done an assessment and believe there can be a cost savings – have they done any assessment on what they expect that savings to be if they were to get it? Thank you.
There are two numbers that are clearly known. One is the current cost of power per kilowatt in Hay River, which is 31 cents and in Fort Smith and Fort Resolution it’s 21 cents. At this point, what I can say in the House is that it is anticipated that we would be able to significantly close that gap that now exists between the cost of power in Hay River and those in the neighbouring communities. Thank you.
Along the lines of the Power Corporation and NUL competing against each other, has the Power Corporation looked at other jurisdictions where there is a Crown corporation and privately owned companies that compete and operate amongst each other and other utilities? I know there are some power and some phones, but just to know how they operation and how do we operate here compared to other jurisdictions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is a very fragmented system in Alberta. BC has BC Hydro, which is their major power utility that has enormous sway over most of the province. But I would have to commit to get back to the Member. I don’t have any further information that I could just off the top of my head indicate what systems are in place in other jurisdictions, though I would say, clearly, in Ontario they have a utility and they are divesting themselves of some of their assets, and Manitoba Hydro, as well, is a very, very major utility in Manitoba. But I will commit to get back to the Member with the information.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my questions about the cost savings, has the Power Corporation put into the calculation the amount that it would cost to purchase the assets? I think there is $12 million on the books, but I think there has to be a premium if we’re taking a hostile takeover. Have we calculated that into the cost savings?
Yes, that factor has been calculated in and we are going to be taking on the community of 3,000 as a rate base, added to our rate base that we never had before, so it’s anticipated that the cost of power, which now pays for that infrastructure, will continue to pay for that infrastructure
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
