Hay River, Friday
6 August – The Northwest Territories Power Corporation today filed
Phase II of its General Rate Application with the Public Utilities Board.
Earlier this year, in Phase I of the GRA, the Public Utilities Board
approved the total revenue the Power Corporation can collect from power
consumers. In this, Phase II of the GRA, the Power Corporation is proposing
how the overall approved revenues are collected from power consumers
– the rate structure.
Currently, NTPC’s
rates are “community-based rates”. This means that each
community bears the cost of generating power in their own community.
In the application
filed today, the Power Corporation is requesting a new, “levelized”
rate structure to replace community-based rates. This means that all
residential power consumers in the NWT will pay 23.21 cents per kWh,
and all general service (commercial) power consumers in the NWT will
pay 21.01 cents per kWh. A levelized rate results in a rate that is
fair to all, and encourages economic and social sustainability of all
NWT communities.
Judith Goucher,
Chief Financial Officer for the Power Corporation, notes: “Under
community based rates, if a community’s generating equipment needs
to be replaced or upgraded, for example, that community’s power
rates would have to rise to cover the cost. This can cause unsustainable
rate increases in communities with a very small number of power consumers.
With levelized rates, all northerners share equally in the cost of providing
power throughout the territory, resulting in greater equity and sustainability.”
The General Rate
Application is subject to review by the Public Utilities Board, with
input from interested stakeholders (intervenors).
For more information:
Judith
Goucher
(867) 874-5202
OR
Peter
Watt
(867) 874-5215
