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Mr. Speaker, delivering the energy Northerners need, in our climate and in a territory as large as the NWT, is challenging. We must constantly maintain and improve the territory’s energy systems so our people and businesses have the energy they need when they need it.

Throughout this Legislative Assembly, the GNWT has made significant progress on a number of energy initiatives and on our mandate commitment to increase the use of alternative and renewable energy. Guided by the 2030 Energy Strategy, we are making great strides in developing secure, affordable and sustainable energy for transportation, heat and electricity across the territory.

Since 2018-2019, this government has invested approximately $165 million across the NWT to improve our energy systems, stabilize energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We continue to advance the planning of transformational energy projects, such as the Fort Providence-Kakisa and Whatì Transmission lines, which will help decrease reliance on diesel generation in those communities. Work also continues on the Taltson Hydro Expansion project, which will provide the clean energy we need to fuel our natural resources industry and connect our two hydro systems in the South Slave and North Slave regions.

Mr. Speaker, we celebrated a big milestone this summer when I attended the Inuvik Wind Project ribbon cutting on July 31. A key initiative of the 2030 Energy Strategy, Canada’s northernmost wind turbine will offset diesel consumption in the town by an estimated three million litres per year and will reduce territorial greenhouse gas emissions by 6,000 metric tonnes. The project is critical to helping us meet our objective of reducing emissions from electricity generation in diesel communities by 25 percent, and it will continue to provide positive benefits to the Beaufort Delta Region over the coming decades.

Last year, the Department of Infrastructure also released a new Energy Action Plan, which outlines plans to invest approximately $194 million dollars to advance the objectives of the Energy Strategy for the 2022-2025 period. Through 68 proposed actions and initiatives, this new plan provides a roadmap to push forward key projects and provide financial support over the next three years.

Mr. Speaker, another important aspect of the 2030 Energy Strategy is finding ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and operating costs. The GNWT is leading by example in this area through its Capital Asset Retrofit Program. Since the program began in 2007, we have completed 102 energy retrofit projects for GNWT facilities in 23 communities across all regions. In 2021-2022 alone, these projects reduced GNWT’s energy costs by $4.1 million dollars.

The Arctic Energy Alliance’s programs and services are central to meeting the 2030 Energy Strategy’s goals and objectives. During the last fiscal year alone, 2,656 rebates and incentives provided through the Arctic Energy Alliance resulted in the reduction of 1.1 kilotonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 1,400 megawatt-hours of electricity use in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, the world is changing, and our energy and climate change strategies must as well. When the 2030 Energy Strategy was released in 2018, the GNWT committed to reviewing it in 2023-2024, along with completing a similar five-year review of the Climate Change Strategic Framework. A review of both strategies over the next two years will determine what changes should be made based on lessons learned, access to new information and opportunities, and feedback received.

On October 12, we will complete an over three-month-long engagement period on the review of the 2030 Energy Strategy and Climate Change Strategic Framework. As part of this review, the GNWT hosted a three-day, in-person event in Yellowknife involving 150 representatives from Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations, energy and climate change partners, and stakeholders. We have also engaged with energy utilities and industry, the NWT Climate Change Council, and Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations through in-person meetings and targeted communication.

Mr. Speaker, our future energy and climate plans need to be ambitious and effective, but they must also be reasonable to ensure we achieve the strategy’s vision of secure, affordable and sustainable energy systems in the NWT. I am glad to report that we have successfully struck that balance over the life of this Legislative Assembly.

Quyananni, Mr. Speaker.