The MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh is questioning why the NWT Power Corporation decided to replace a Fort Resolution power generator in the winter.
In the Legislative Assembly on Monday, Richard Edjericon said the community’s residents had been “very concerned about their homes freezing up in -28C weather and causing significant damage” during a 14-hour power outage last month.
The MLA said a technician from the NWT Power Corporation, or NTPC, had replaced a power generator unit in the community despite advice from local leaders not to proceed due to cold weather.
He said the technician later found issues related to power lines and NTPC called for additional contractors from Yellowknife to help restore power.
Edjericon asserted that NTPC had not alerted community members about the outage. He said there was also confusion about the location of a warming centre.
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While he thanked NTPC for its “swift action” restoring power in Fort Resolution, Edjericon questioned why the power corporation had decided to replace the generator in January rather than the summer or fall. He noted the Taltson hydro plant, which would normally provide Fort Resolution’s power, has now been offline for almost two years.
Caroline Wawzonek, the minister responsible for NTPC, said the events related to January’s outage were “routine operations” unrelated to the Taltson plant.
“It was to switch over one of the units that was overheating. There was a backup unit there available, there were technicians available and so they really were not anticipating circumstances to become what they were on that day,” she said.
Edjericon further questioned who is responsible for damage to homes that freeze as a result of a power outage caused by NTPC.
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Wawzonek said it is “standard practice” for utilities across Canada, including NTPC, to not compensate customers for such damages.
Finally, Edjericon advocated for future work to be completed in the summer months rather than the winter.
Wawzonek said the power corporation considers the timing and availability of backups as well as weather when conducting routine maintenance. She added the Taltson hydro plant is expected to come back online later this month.
“We are expecting they’ll be back to their usual source of power with diesel being the backup and therefore they shouldn’t be experiencing any similar problems, hopefully, for the rest of this year,” she said of power in Fort Resolution.
Correction: February 11, 2025 – 11:14 MT. Owing to a misunderstanding of the minister’s comments, this article initially stated that utilities including NTPC would compensate customers for damages related to power outages. In fact, the minister stated it is standard practice for utilities to not have provisions whereby they would compensate customers.
