After Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie spoke highly of a number of NWT energy initiatives in the legislative assembly on Thursday, Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson verbally dismantled the territorial government’s energy strategy piece by piece.
“I think we need to be honest with the public that our energy future is looking pretty grim,” he said. “The reality is that our rates are going up, and people in the North will continue to pay the highest rates of power in Canada. None of the projects that the minister listed today are going to fix that, and I think that needs to be the starting point in this conversation.”
Johnson noted that the NWT Power Corporation was subsidized by $15 million this year due to low water levels, which affects hydro power, and diesel costs being underestimated.
He was also critical of the government’s ability to build projects on time and on budget. The Inuvik Wind Project that Archie touted cost double its initial estimate, he pointed out.
“That was a 3.5-megawatt project for $70 million. People down south are building wind projects at $2 million a megawatt,” Johnson said, adding that it’s proved to be 10 times more expensive in Inuvik than in the south. “This shouldn’t be celebrated. This was one of the most, if not the most, expensive wind project ever… I get it is expensive in the North, and I get it’s hard to build. But with that project doubling in cost, the business case is very questionable, whether it’s saving those three million litres of diesel a year on a 20-year project — that’s the estimated life span of a wind turbine — will actually pay itself off.”
He also cited the Whati transmission line, which was supposed to be started in 2021 but is now estimated for completion in 2028. Yet the route and cost for that initiative remain unknown.
Likewise, the Fort Providence transmission line, originally targeted for completion in fall 2023 has now been pushed back to 2027.
“It is clear that it is well over budget, and the $60 million the feds initially gave us for that Fort Providence transmission line isn’t going to cut it. We have not been provided with an updated figure,” he said.
The GNWT needs to level with Northerners that the affordability of some of the renewable energy projects coveted in the territory isn’t yet feasible, he suggested.
Taltson expansion criticism
The biggest project of them all, a 60-megawatt expansion in Taltson hydro generation, is also shrouded in mystery because “the minister refuses to tell us how much it’s going to cost,” Johnson contended.
The cost estimate in 2014 was $1.2 billion. However, a proposed transmission line to the diamond mines is no longer on the table.
“The minister refuses to tell us what the cost of power will be sold out of Taltson and who’s going to buy it, mostly importantly,” Johnson said. “We need mines to buy it.”
“There is a complete lack of transparency from the department and the power corporation about what’s going on with our energy future,” he added.
He asked Archie whether the business case for Taltson expansion has been developed.
The minister said the work is still underway, but the business case has been shared with Indigenous groups.
“Until we get further feedback from our working group and our steering group, whether we provide it to the public that’s still yet to be determined. So right now, it is with the Indigenous groups,” said Archie, who's also the minister responsible for the NWT Power Corp.
Johnson then expressed frustration that it’s not public information. He asked Archie to reveal how much the Taltson expansion will cost.
She described it as “the early stages” of the project and said the GNWT is using federal funding to work with Indigenous partners.
“We also need to look at things like, you know, exploring some business options,” she said, adding that the next territorial government can decide which details to share publicly. “Right now it’s confidential with our partners.”
Johnson said it’s “completely unreasonable” not to know the cost associated with a project of this scale and who will consume all of the additional power.
Archie closed the discussion by stating that, “You know, we still haven’t decided on what phase we’re going to work on. And I just want the member to know it’s a big-picture thinking. It’s thinking about the future. You know, leveraging federal funding so that we could make life better for Northwest Territories residents.”