Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] When I made my Member's statement, I talked about the generator and the Power Corporation. The people in Whati, this is their message. It is their words I am relaying to the government, so that is what I want to talk about. [Translation ends]
On January 13th, Whati lost two of its three generators. They quit working in the community. It took 20 hours for the power to go back on. When power goes out, maybe it's an accident, but if two goes out, it's neglect. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation. Can the Minister for the Power Corporation tell this House how old Whati generators are and also tell us an average recommended replacement age for these generators in the community? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start off by apologizing to the community of Whati for the outage. The customers in the Northwest Territories experienced three times more power outages than the Canadian average. Severe weather events were a huge driver of customer outages due to high winds, falling trees, heavy rain and lightning, so I just want to start off by that. I heard two questions in that, Mr. Speaker, so let me try and answer one of them. It has been known for years that the NTPC power generating infrastructure, including the Whati, is aging and its impact on reliability. The recent outages in Whati were mostly related to some of the transmission issues, although these issues were with the generators at the same time. One of the transmission issues had to do with one of the sections of the power line that were slapping together with high winds due to causing lines to trip offline. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Translation] When we stand here in front of the House, we ask these questions so we can prevent some of these things that is happened. The second question is: [Translation ends] When can a community expect to be connected to the power grid, the transmission line that the Minister is referring to, so you can have a reliable power source supply? Urgency for fast tracking on this power grid is necessary, so when can we see that happening.
The plant in Whati is not scheduled to be replaced in the next five years, although one of the generators will be placed in the next year. I am sure the Member will be happy to hear that. We are working with the generators, which will improve some of the reliability on the plant. We will also be installing some additional mid-line spacers on the affected section of the power line within the next couple of weeks as soon as we can get the bucket truck in and the crew into the community.
I believe urgency is a must here. The next five years, that is a long time waiting for the community of Whati. They could have a power outage the next day or next week, another 20 hours or 30 hours. It could not be prevented by this department. Part of it is nature. My question to the Minister is: Could this particular project be expedited instead of waiting five years? I know there is a generator that is coming, but the community is wishing and hoping and praying for a transmission line to come into the community ASAP.
The Whati transmission line is expected to displace 500 litres of diesel usage per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.4 kilotons annually once constructed, which is an important part of our 2030 strategy. Where I am going with this is: Once we have an agreement on the way forward, we can do the necessary costing and technical work to be able to look at putting in a funding application to Canada. I understand that the Member is concerned about some of the timing. Once we get all of our work done, we are hoping to be able to do this by the end of this year.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] If we have to wait for the federal government to respond, it will take years and years and years. Right now, I will have to say, speaking for Whati, we want it here right now. [Translation ends] Even the paperwork alone takes years, and the proposal, submission, and approval can take years, as well. The community of Whati doesn't have the patience for that. They already lost patience when they had 20 hours of power outage. We need to take action now, Mr. Speaker.
My next question is: What special measures has the Minister taken to ensure that a power outage never happens again in Whati or even in other isolated communities in my riding? For instance, will the Minister commit to a comprehensive infrastructure audit to search out maintenance problems, issues, and recommend priority repairs where necessary, Mr. Speaker? Masi.
I can't promise no more outages in any of the communities in the Northwest Territories. There may be additional outages. When winds are high, I mentioned earlier that severe winds are huge drivers in terms of some of the outages in our communities. We look at some of our federal funding, to be able to prioritize some of this. I understand that the Member is concerned about the communities and the number of outages that have happened. That is something that we are looking at. I am hoping to replace the generator by the end of the year and am looking at federal funding to be able to look at some infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
