History of the Corporation

In 1948, with the rapid expansion of the mining sector near Yellowknife, the federal government recognized the need for an integrated utility industry in the North. An Act of Parliament established the Northwest Territories Power Commission, renamed the Northern Canada Power Commission in 1956, when operations expanded to include the Yukon. One of the first projects commissioned by the new utility in October, 1948, was the eight megawatt Snare Rapids hydro facility on the Snare River, 140 kilometers north of Yellowknife. Click here to check out an article on Yellowknife's early hydro expansion from Popular Mechanics Magazine, dated February 1949.

When the Government of the Northwest Territories acquired the Northern Canada Power Commission from the federal government on May 5, 1988, the head office was located in Edmonton, the utility was not publicly regulated, and the federal government set power rates.

Since then, the Corporation has moved its headquarters to Hay River and invested $200 million in plant and equipment to better serve NWT residents. Among the capital additions over the past 20 years are a new 150 km steel-tower transmission (115 kV) line connecting Yellowknife to the four hydro facilities on the Snare River, seven new power plants, a natural gas plant, 80 diesel engines, five emergency engines, the Snare Cascades hydro plant (a project with the Tlicho Nation) and the Bluefish hydro plant.

The Corporation is fully regulated by the Public Utilities Board of the Northwest Territories, one of only a handful of Crown-owned utilities subject to full regulation in the North. Since acquisition by the GNWT in 1988, the Corporation has paid $72 million in dividends to the government and paid in full the $53 million long-term debt assumed by the GNWT when it acquired the corporation from the federal government.

Quick Facts

  • 1948 Northwest Territories Power Commission Act. Snare River power plant (8 MW) and transmission line commissioned to serve first customers: Giant Yellowknife Mines Limited and the Town of Yellowknife.
  • 1949 Cominco's Con Mine Bluefish supply connected to the Yellowknife grid.
  • 1950 Fort Smith diesel generator installed.
  • 1953 Con Mine becomes a customer.
  • 1956 Name change to Northern Canada Power Commission (NCPC).
  • 1957 Examination of the electricity needs of Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit). Initial design for central power/heating plant at Inuvik.
  • 1960 Initial construction at Inuvik complete.
  • 1962 Assessment of hydro power supply for Pine Point Mine, west of Hay River.
  • 1964 Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit) central generating and heating plant commissioned.
  • 1965 Taltson River hydro electric plant commissioned (18 MW).
  • 1969 Population growth requires standby diesel plant in Yellowknife.
  • 1972 80-mile wood pole (69 kV) transmission line constructed from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, the only line of its type in the world, north of the Arctic Circle.
  • 1973 Head office moved from Ottawa to Edmonton.
  • 1978 Forty-nine communities across the North now served by the Northern Canada Power Commission.
  • 1986 Pine Point Mine closes.
  • 1988 Government of the Northwest Territories acquires NCPC. Inuvik plant destroyed by fire. Inuvik supplied with power from Tuktoyaktuk while plant was rebuilt.
  • 1989 Head office moves to Hay River. The Commission is renamed the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. NWT Public Utilities Board commences partial regulation of the Corporation.
  • 1990 New 150 km (115 kV) transmission line installed between Snare and Yellowknife.
  • 1992 Agreement with Dogrib Power Corporation to construct, own and lease back for 65 years a 4.3 MW hydro electric facility on the Snare River. Full regulation of the Corporation by the NWT Public Utilities Board.
  • 1996 Environmental site assessments commenced. Snare Cascades hydro, a 4.3 MW plant, is commissioned.
  • 1997 Community-based rates established. Fuel and water stabilization funds established.
  • 1999 Creation of Nunavut, April 1, 1999. The Corporation continues to supply both the NWT and Nunavut under a two-year transition plan. Inuvik plant begins multi-year transition from diesel to natural gas.
  • 2001 On April 1 the assets of Northwest Territories Power Corporation are divided into two corporations: the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Government of NWT, and the Nunavut Power Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Government of Nunavut.
  • 2002 NTPC receives the national Leadership Award for electric utilities for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
  • 2003 NTPC purchases the Bluefish (7 MW) hydro plant from Miramar Con Mine, near Yellowknife.
  • 2004 A new subsidiary, Sahdae Energy Limited, is created to pursue the hydro potential of the Bear River, working with the Deline Land Corporation and the Tulita Yamoria Community Secretariat. In January, Fort McPherson’s power plant burned to the ground. NTPC restored power to the community within 10 hours.
  • 2005 New Fort McPherson power plant is commissioned in Fort McPherson.
  • 2007 The Government of the Northwest Territories passes the NWT Hydro Corporation Act, creating the Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation (NT Hydro). The new corporate structure includes NTPC as one of three NT Hydro subsidiaries. Former subsidiaries of NTPC are now "sister companies" of the Corporation.
  • 2008 NTPC’s 20th anniversary as a wholly-owned crown corporation of the Government of the Northwest Territories.