Naka Power looks to amalgamate companies on either side of lake

The various Naka Power companies in the NWT are planning an amalgamation that would leave them under majority-Indigenous ownership.

At the moment, there are three utilities companies in the territory that use the Naka name. They are connected but are distinct entities.

Naka Power Utilities (NWT) Ltd mostly serves communities on the southern and western sides of Great Slave Lake – Fort Providence, Kakisa, Enterprise, Kátł’odeeche First Nation and Dory Point – as well as Sambaa K’e and Wekweètì.

Naka NWT began operations in Hay River in 1951. It was Hay River’s power distributor until the NWT Power Corporation took over that franchise earlier this year.

Naka Power Utilities (Yellowknife) Ltd was acquired in 1993 and serves as power distributor for the Yellowknife area.

Naka Utilities (NWT) Ltd is an umbrella company that sits above the other two Naka firms. In turn, Naka Utilities (NWT) is half-owned by southern utilities firm Atco – through a holding company named Norven – and half-owned by NWT-based Denendeh Investments Inc.

If the proposed amalgamation is approved by regulator the Public Utilities Board and goes through, Naka NWT and Naka Yellowknife will disappear, and the one remaining company is likely to retain the name Naka Power Utilities (NWT) Ltd.

So far, this shifting around of utility names may not mean much. Naka says there will be two meaningful outcomes.

Firstly, as part of the process, Naka is proposing that Denendeh Investments will acquire an extra percentage point of ownership, moving it to a majority 51-percent stake.

“By the end of this year, the intention is that Naka Power Utilities will be 51-percent Indigenous-owned,” Denendeh Investments boss Darrell Beaulieu told a gathering in Yellowknife last week.

In a regulatory submission, Naka says the shift “will not result in a change in the operational management” of the amalgamated company, but represents “a natural evolution of Denendeh’s long-standing relationship with Naka Utilities.”

Secondly, Naka says the amalgamation will save money.

The company bitterly fought Hay River town council’s decision to transfer its power franchise to the NWT Power Corporation. Naka says losing that franchise has affected its finances.

Naka says it has already taken some steps to centralize functions between its various companies, including some shared management.

“The amalgamation is anticipated to benefit customers through cost savings from efficiencies that can be realized in the amalgamated utility,” the company told the regulator.

Naka estimates about $220,000 a year can be saved: $140,000 in head office support costs, $45,000 in audit fees and $35,000 marked “other.” The one-off cost of amalgamating is put at $275,000.

Naka hopes to complete the amalgamation by January 1, 2026.

Interested parties have until November 19 to submit comments to the Public Utilities Board.

The Naka name – naka means northern lights in some Dene languages – has itself been a source of controversy.

The company ended up in court when it rebranded from Northland Utilities over objections from an existing electrical services firm named Naka Electric.