Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I wouldn't be -- it wouldn't be wrong to say that the number one issue related to affordability in the Northwest Territories for MLAs is power, is the rates of power second closely only to the high -- or second behind the high cost of housing. Power rates are the highest in the country despite our abundant hydro resources. And as the motion mentioned, we have many unique challenges that create a perfect storm of an unaffordable electricity system and one where ratepayers are forced to shoulder the brunt of those costs, and those costs continue to escalate, Mr. Speaker.
On average, electricity averages 25 to 34 cents per kilowatt, roughly two to three times the national average of 12.9 kilowatts. Energy -- sorry, 9 to 11 percent of households spend 10 percent -- less than 10 percent of income on -- or sorry, are spending close to 10 percent of their income on energy costs whereas Canada is half that rate at 5.6 percent. Each proposed rate increase adds hundreds -- or adds a hundred to $200 per month per household. On average, NWT customers experience 7.7 outages a year compared to 3.1 nationally, with 10 hours per customer annually for those outages. Most communities rely on diesel-based generation, which is extremely costly. The NWT grid is isolated from the North American system that amplifies the volatility and the outage risk of our power systems.
Despite spending $138 million in energy projects from 2018 to 2022 and a $12 million annual subsidy from 2024 to 2028, which is proposed to stay intact, the rates remain high and reliability continues to decline. We need to do something more than what we're doing, is the message here with this motion. And when I hear constituents come to me and say why is my power bill spiking even though I am doing what I can to conserve power, I am keeping the lights off, I am going on vacation and making sure that nothing's going on in my home, especially over the cold winter months. And yet the bills they get are the highest they receive in the year, and sometimes double what they were paying the month before. And those things just don't make sense to people. And when they come to us for answers, all we -- the only answers we get back is we already provide subsidies, we already do whatever we can to keep those rates low. But the rates are just too high, Mr. Speaker.
High electricity costs strain family budgets worsening overall costs of living in the Northwest Territories. Frequent outages disrupt heat, cooking, and daily life during often extreme cold months. Residents often pay full bills despite -- well, always pay full bills if they pay them -- interrupted service, which is a hidden tax on households. What are we paying for? I hear all the time. Why can't we get a reimbursement from the power corporation or from the utilities company because the power is just not reliable; what service are we paying for?
A family in my riding, as I've mentioned multiple times in this chamber, lost a home due to a power outage that fried electrical equipment leading to an electrical fire which, to this day, has kept them from their home.
Mr. Speaker, those surges and brownouts damage equipment, in particular kitchen equipment and point of service systems. These outages for businesses have an estimated cost of $4.7 million in lost GDP per day, Mr. Speaker. In the South Slave, a hand games tournament lost $5,000 on food due to a prolonged outage with no backup refrigeration. And those are costs that -- those tournaments and events are supposed to raise money for the community not cost money because of an unreliable power system. We've had shows at the Northern Arts and Community Centre cancelled because of power outages. We've had festivals interrupted because of power outages. It contributes to an impact on the cultural fabric of our communities as well.
Fort Smith's swimming pool, out of service for months with an estimated repair cost of $50,000. These high operating costs reduce competitiveness, hinder industrial growth, and raise local prices. And the prices, again, Mr. Speaker, are already too high.
Not to mention the public safety concerns. When the power outage happened not too long ago and this Assembly's generators kicked in, the lights were off around Yellowknife. I drove home through many uncontrolled intersections because emergency services were scrambling to get out and keep people safe. But, again, that puts additional pressure on municipalities, especially in the city of Yellowknife, to provide those public safety services at unpredictable times. And there are real costs to public safety when you can't rely on power and backup systems.
In an emergency situation as well, where communication is critical. During the evacuation, if the power lines had failed or been cut by forest fires to Yellowknife, it would have been completely isolated, Mr. Speaker. And that includes from any emergency operations that were crucial to manage operations on the ground for the first responders who were there. It was a live issue, and there was no backup plan or resiliency.
Mr. Speaker, as I've said before, power outages are no longer inconveniences; they are serious financial drains and a direct threat to the safety of homeowners and the viability of businesses in the Northwest Territories.
From resident and business voices, we've heard folks in Nahanni Butte say grocery prices are increasing. On top of that power is increasing, it's just insane. From Ulukhaktok's mayor, it's hard enough already; any rise in costs that affects our community in a hard way. Norman Wells grocery store owner, we're going to have to raise costs just to help cover these power costs let alone all the lights. And from the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, it's a huge hike. The hike never ends. Small mom and pops are really going to suffer. Costs are going up, up. Can people continue to afford living here? For a lot of people that answer is no. A Whati resident said shouldn't be charged full price of power for a power supply that isn't working at full capacity. And an official from Fort Smith said costs borne by the taxpaying residents of Fort Smith in relation to outages that cause necessary repairs to municipal infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, accountability is important here as well. We spend millions on subsidies and projects yet reliability continues to worsen and rates continue to rise. Subsidy programs that are currently in place are supposed to reduce costs for households but are not addressing systemic reliability issues nor are they keeping those costs manageable, Mr. Speaker. We remain far more expensive than other northern jurisdictions of Yukon or Nunavut despite similar climate and remoteness. And, Mr. Speaker, we need to set clear public reliability targets tied to subsidy spending, modernize our infrastructure to reduce brownouts and outages, and provide transparent reporting on progress and outcomes so you can see the value for money of both these subsidies and energy programs.
And, most importantly, we need to do more to support the everyday taxpayer, households, and families that need a reliable power system, especially in a cold climate, and of course our small businesses who already have to stretch very far to bring a profit and keep their doors open, which is becoming very difficult. If anyone's been paying attention to the news in this community, my community of Yellowknife, we're losing a lot of businesses, a lot of storefronts, because of those costs. The economy is changing, and those costs are getting higher.
Mr. Speaker, I've spoken many times about the concerns of my constituents. And another reason I wanted to bring this forward is to have the debate, to hear from Members on what we need to do, because when we do the normal back and forth in question period or emails to the Minister, or even have conversations with the utility company, the answer is always the same. Well, everything is working the way it should be and we're doing the best that we can. Well, that's just not good enough, not in 2026.
Mr. Speaker, this motion contemplates -- calls for several things, all of the things that have been wrapped up in this motion have been raised independently by multiple Members on the floor, just this sitting alone, whether it's battery backup systems, a contingency fund to support businesses, looking at power rates to -- the rate subsidy system to see how we can improve the cost of living and affordability concerns of residents. All these things -- oh, and of course -- sorry, the critical infrastructure needs of communities that are still recovering from natural disasters, like the hamlet of Enterprise. I was quite taken with the Member for Deh Cho's statement which is why it made its way into this motion as well. It's crucial that every community has reliable, safe power, Mr. Speaker. It is not an optional thing. It is not a luxury that we can just say is enjoyed in southern Canada and we just have to tough it out on the North. We need that here if we're to build an economy and a society for the contemporary period for 2026.
Mr. Speaker, the issue of subsidies in particular, I know is frustrating. No one wants to provide expensive subsidies to industries that are not offering at peak capacity, and power generation and distribution should be no exception to that. We are in a situation where there is no short-term relief to the affordability issues that northern families are going through and working people are going through. The costs are going to continue to rise until we start making those modernization and improvements to the actual infrastructure. And even when those are made, if they're financed the way they're traditionally financed those costs inevitably fall back onto ratepayers as well. So we do need to do more, and we need to do more to offer that short-term relief because where we're at today it is so difficult to, you know, pay for your groceries, pay your mortgage, pay your rent, pay your car bills, pay for your kids, pay for everything else you need to pay for and still have money to save for your future.
I think of the young people as well. I think of those young families as well who have -- we've seen all the new benefits with child care, with other federally supported programs that are making a difference but the reach just isn't impacting the North the way it is in other places because we have these structural challenges that are just leading to the North being unaffordable. And I can say this with confidence, I don't think -- I think all of us have heard the same thing from at least one of our constituents or one resident of the territory, I am thinking about leaving or I am already making plans to leave. And power is one of the things they cite.
So I expect Members will have different perspectives on this. Like I said, there are many -- this motion calls for many things and some of those things that are called for have been raised before, so it's -- it attempts to be kind of an omnibus idea to capture these ideas of how we need to change things.
I also want to say I know the Minister responsible for NTPC and energy policy is not ignorant to these things. In fact, she has been very vocal on explaining the structural and systemic challenges. And when we did have that outage, she was very communicative to me at least, and I am sure to other Members, on what was going on with the system as people struggled for answers and to understand how things were going. So this is not a situation where, you know, we have a head in the sand approach or grass is greener; this is something we are all very aware of. But it needs to take the same kind of priority that we are investing in other things. And when I look to -- even today, when I was looking at a list of federal supported programs, I see Saskatchewan's north to south grid is receiving a feasibility study in the amount of $18 million from the federal government, and that's specifically tied to economic development and growth in their territory. That's something we could be more ambitious about here. Yukon is exploring that option of connecting their -- to the continental grid in British Columbia. They have different challenges but we have our own challenges, but we're all dealing with the same remoteness and the same lack of connectivity. The difference is they pay a lot less than our residents do.
So when it comes to those solutions that we've talked about, I don't want to see those solutions cost ratepayers more. We need to find a different solution to finance these things, and we need to improve affordability in the short term while we start investing in the future.
And the clean design pilot project is something that I am personally quite supportive of, and I've seen some pretty impressive results from that. That is an AI-powered energy battery system that actually reduces brownouts, reduces blackouts, and optimizes diesel usage in remote communities and work sites and mine sites as well. And they are also being federally funded to explore how they can make their technology work in the high Arctic in the B2Gold project.
So there's a lot going on in this space in northern communities. We have the potential to turn that pilot into a bigger project for the entire Northwest Territories, and I think that's where our mind needs to be right now. We want to continue to invest in clean energy. We want to ensure that clean energy sources, where they are as reliable and effective and cost-effective as diesel and natural gas and other sources of energy, can replace them, lower those emissions. But at this point the most important thing is a reliable energy system and an affordable energy system. Everything else is a luxury. Those are the two core components that need to be the focus of any future strategy. And that's what this motion calls for, amongst other features. But it is essentially calling for the government to do more than we're currently doing and to show confidence -- to give confidence to Northerners that things are going to get better, both in the short term and the long term, because telling people whose pocketbooks are stretched so far that don't worry, affordability is coming, you just got to wait until 2030, 2040, or 2050, they're not going to wait. They're going to leave the territory before it can become affordable. And we can't afford that right now as a government. We can't afford a single person to leave. We want people to come here, to invest in the North, to grow the North, and we need to start working on the backbone of our economy and the backbone of our communities and that starts with reliable energy and affordable energy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And at the appropriate time, I will cede to a recorded vote. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Both the Member for Range Lake and I, we worked and talked quite a great length about this particular motion. It's really reflective of the feelings of the people in the community. And I don't necessarily just mean Yellowknife. I mean everywhere. I mean, there's nowhere I travel and don't hear about the stresses of power. I mean, I was in Hay River last weekend for the day and I heard people complain about the power bills. And, Mr. Speaker, when you read online or you see the table in Parliament when they talk about an $850 power bill, using a round number, you know, they wonder how people could survive here.
You know, I have the benefit of previously serving on the Co-Op board, and I -- that's the now Lakeshore Co-Op here in Yellowknife. And I asked them -- because we often talked about the impacts of the unreliable, supposedly reliable power, and the impacts of it. They'd send me some costs. And I want to cite some of them that they talk about the local level. And just before I do that, they were quite excited that I was asking the Minister responsible for the power corp, you know, could we come up with a system that creates an assurance program. Because, frankly, when you invest, you know, not just tens of dollars, not hundreds of dollars, now we're talking thousands of dollars, and in some cases millions of dollars, into your infrastructure and the unreliability of the power constantly puts such significant demand that things are always breaking down. So who eats that? The consumer in their case. I mean, the Co-Op has nowhere to go.
So people complain well geez, the prices of milk are high or the prices are bad or, you know, too much, etcetera, etcetera. Well, it's because of things like the unreliability of the power. So here are some examples from the Yellowknife store, the Lakeshore. And don't worry, for our friends out at home, I've got a couple of examples from Hay River too.
Mr. Speaker, for example, the lighting system keeps getting hammered as the cycle of power is inconsistent, and they have spent the last few years over $100,000 in working with that problem. Their LED signage has been taking a beating, and that's only rolled in around just a meagre $40,000. Mr. Speaker, they're constantly restarting, updating, and repairing computers. Their servers, their security damage recently was up to $5,000. Their phone system, Mr. Speaker, when you're in trouble who are you going to call? Well, their phone system, their integrated system within the store, is four to five times a year it happens, including their paging sound system through - you know, through the store, that always has to be either addressed, reset, reprogrammed two to three times a year. What about their warming equipment? You know, when we walk down that aisle, whatever aisle it is, you know, you're looking for your deli stuff. Well, that goes down four to five times a year, again because of the style of power we have here, as in the interrupted style of power.
Well, let's get to some really interesting ones. Refrigeration system. The compressors, Mr. Speaker. It's cost the Co-Op over $20,000 per unit to replace. Computerized monitoring systems they've put in, $25,000, Mr. Speaker. The gas bar alone, for those sneaking in grabbing your pizza well, that pizza warmer costs between $1,500 to $2,000 every time they have to replace it, not to mention the hotdog roller. You know, the fuel dispenser, how many times do you see people frustrated by the sensitivity of the fact that the program on the fuel dispenser doesn't work, the programming unit, the touchpad. Well, that's because they get fried all the time so they become weekly issues because of the style of power we have; in other words, the style of inconsistency. And, again, the canopy.
So I did say I'd mention Hay River. I wouldn't want to leave Hay River out with no intentions of wanting to do that. Recently, they had to replace a refrigerator compressor. It was approximately just a minor $25,000.
Mr. Speaker, those are some of the costs impacted directly by one agency or one group of stores, Mr. Speaker. And the fact is, who eats those costs? Well, the organization which means at the end of the day, the customers. It's the same customers that pay the other power bills. I mean, cost of living, as my colleague from Range Lake has pointed out, is -- I yet to see a marker where they put up posts and say we've solved this problem or we've rolled this problem back. I think in the last -- since we've been elected in 2023, Mr. Speaker -- and I stand to be corrected, and I certainly welcome to be corrected. But the only thing I've seen roll back is the price of fuel because the carbon tax is removed. But outside of that and the federal intervention, I have not seen anything roll back.
Now, the government is subsidizing the power corp. I guarantee you if we had real competition producing power in town, you know, people would move on. That's what real competition is creating.
We need solutions. We need ways to approach this problem because it's almost like we're so stuck doing the same thing over and over again, any outside of -- thinking outside of the box is just completely dismissed.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the fact that they're putting in the battery system in your community first. I think that that's a program and an idea that, quite frankly, it appeared it had a lot of resistance at the beginning but thankfully it's now going online just in a few short weeks, and we'll see how that rolls out. I look forward to Yellowknife being another recipient of this option, including any other community that we can sort of make it the right fit. And I will certainly support the expansion in any community to ensure we have reliable power in all our communities.
Could we save money? Absolutely. The government could start with something simple. Help the bottom line by getting rid of the PUB. Just say thank you for your service. We'd like to wish you well. And then get rid of all franchise agreements. I mean, why would you have franchise agreements in the Northwest Territories? We have a birthright power. Everyone is in on the same page. We all need it. There's only really one provider. So if we want to save on the bottom line, the government should just take out that page that allows people to do franchise agreements and just end it now. I mean, why do you think what happened in Hay River happened? ATCO fought tooth and nail to keep that because the money just keeps rolling. So they -- my humble opinion is, Mr. Speaker, is they wanted pain and suffering through the legal process, make them pay and change their mind by taking them to court over and over and over again until they give up. Well, thank goodness the Town of Hay River didn't give up. I only wish the City of Yellowknife would follow their example but they just renewed their franchise agreement.
Mr. Speaker, we have to find ways to make power more reliable. We've talked about batteries, AI. You know, living on the dream that Taltson is going to save us. You know, if I am completely honest I mean, I think it's a great academic program. I worry it'll never come to fruition. I mean, they float $3 billion today. It could be $4 billion by 2034, 2035. Who knows. And I think ultimately the question is, in my humble opinion, it doesn't matter if it costs $3 billion, $4 billion, $100 billion. What really matters fundamentally, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that is there a customer that can pay for it that rationalizes that cost? Because I certainly hope that they just don't run the line and say we'll just add that to the ratepayers.
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of things about this motion that are right, and there's a lot of things about this motion that are super right. I think that if the government wants to make any strides, it still has a year and a half, 579 days approximately. Don't surrender, don't give up. Look for meaningful change that affects the everyday family's bottom line. Because when I am knocking doors and talking to people and the first thing they ask is what are you doing to make my life easier, I yet to see any affordability solutions that have changed their mind. I mean, if the government, its idea of solving cost of living is buying somebody a house or rent subsidies and whatnot, but that's not the market. The market's out there. It's we've got to find base solutions rather than band-aid ones. And I think that's the fundamental problem here is that, stability of power and affordability, Mr. Speaker.
And just to finish up again, my colleague from Range Lake is right. Over and over and again it's worth repeating, is people are leaving because of affordability. And if this isn't the biggest red flag, I don't know what is. It's certainly one that we could ask ourselves. And we can deny that we can't get power from Alberta, which I think really is the question, is how do we do that. How do we link that together? How do we talk to Prime Minister Carney, like the Yukon does to northern BC? And legacy projects like that may be outside of our typical affordability but when you look at legacy initiatives, legacy infrastructure, and changing the narrative of the path of where we're going, it's things like that that will make the bottom line much more affordable for people over the longer haul.
So, Mr. Speaker, with that, I will be voting in favour of the motion. I mean, it would seem weird if I seconded it and don't vote in favour of it. But, Mr. Speaker, my colleague's already called for a recorded vote so I look forward to hearing more from many others and their perspectives. But we must crack this nut because people just can't wait any longer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member for Range Lake. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake. The Member for Monfwi. The Member for Frame Lake. The Member for Mackenzie Delta. The Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. The Member for Dehcho. The Member for Yellowknife Centre.
All those opposed, please stand.
The Member for Great Slave. The Member for Yellowknife North. The Member for Sahtu.
All those abstaining, please stand.
The Member for Thebacha. The Member for Yellowknife South. The Member for Kam Lake. The Member for Hay River North. The Member for Hay River South. The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. The Member for Nunakput.
Thank you. All those in favour, eight. Opposed, three. Abstaining, seven. The motion is carried.
---Carried
