Mr. Speaker, we want electricity that is cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable with less power outages. Is that so hard?
The Minister of NTPC has been taking every opportunity to argue that the solution to all of these problems and more is the Taltson expansion and transmission line, most recently saying that power outages can only be prevented by connecting our two grids. I know that there is an appetite for big ideas, big solutions to all of our problems, but it's dangerous to believe in panaceas, especially when they're estimated to cost several billions of dollars, especially when they may not deliver the level of reliability we're hoping for or the lower cost, and especially when it means we fail to focus on shorter-term, lower-cost practical steps we could be taking. We need to always ask what is the priority problem that we're trying to solve and then what is the most cost-efficient way to get there.
If our priority is to prevent power outages in the North Slave grid, well most outages are caused by a supply failure rather than a transmission failure and most outages last less than 15 minutes, despite our recent experience. Spending billions to tie our two grids together may or may not prevent future outages, depending on the location of any supply failure.
Alternatively, we could install a complete battery backup that meets peak grid demand with its own substation. Right now, there's a battery being installed in Alberta, sized for 80 megawatts, so more than what we need, that would provide backup power for two hours, and it costs $120 million. Still pricey but a fraction of the cost of Taltson. If we just wanted 15 minutes of reserve energy to prevent a majority of the outages we currently experience, we could get a smaller 10 megawatt battery at Jackfish for maybe 10 to $20 million. This idea and others were proposed by NTPC itself and a backgrounder listing potential solutions to chronic low-water challenges.
Some other ideas proposed by NTPC were to install modular units at Jackfish, increase the generation capacity at Bluefish, and add more solar and wind energy to the Snare system. Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my point is that if we want to reduce power outages, Taltson is by no means the obvious answer. Let's look at each of our electricity challenges one by one and find the most practical solutions to each. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from the Deh Cho.
