Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I had to make a list of sentences I heard my dad say the most during my childhood "turn off the lights" would make top three. Now as a parent myself, I get it.
Northerners pay the highest electricity rates in Canada. According to Energy Hub, a social enterprise, the 2021 average cost of NWT electricity was 38.2 cents per kilowatt hour. That's more than twice the national average and even 2 percent higher than Nunavut.
High electricity rates put pressure on residents' cost of living and constituents tell me they can't keep up. Sky high power rates will bite us in the butt and hollow out our territory. One big challenge is its customer base. We are a small population spread out over a vast beautiful land, and our growth is stagnant.
The bureau of statistics projects that our population will remain basically flat through the 2030s and without a plan to change that, they are probably right. As a result, paired with limited new industrial activity, power sales have declined by about half a percent per year over the last ten years. And while demand tapers off, costs rise.
Mr. Speaker, when you look at NTPC's annual reports, total expenses grew from $70 million in 2011 to $112 million in 2021. This is equivalent to a 5 percent increase every year. Except for some federal dollars, these cost increases ultimately fall on Northerners through higher bills and tax dollars. And this trend isn't being mitigated as NTPC infrastructure continues to age and continues to drive costs.
Many of the NTPC's generating facilities were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Some assets like NTPC's hydro plants were built even earlier, Mr. Speaker. Before 2018, NTPC's capital expenditures were generally in the $20 million range. Now, NTPC's latest fiveyear capital plan budgets capital spending of about $60 million per year. Federal dollars only off set about 27 percent of this spending, Mr. Speaker. On top of all this, NTPC needs to make significant investments to get off diesel without compromising the entire system.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is why it's so important for NTPC to have a financially sustainable longterm plan. The plan needs to include dedicated staff to source 100 percent federal dollars, and the plan also needs proper oversight. The board needs more than DMs and MLAs need oversight. Coming out of a pandemic, facing increased cost of living, people need hope and people need power, and the government needs a plan to provide both. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.
